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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. squash — to crush
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. cap — of ice
  7. ground — a position
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. cap — a hat
  10. spring — a coil
  11. ground — the earth
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — the animal
  14. cap — a lid
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — the season
  18. squash — the sport
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. plane — a tool
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bowl — a dish

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com