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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 116 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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. mate — a partner
  3. sharp — clever
  4. saw — the tool
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. mate — a friend
  7. stock — goods
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. snap — to click
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. saw — the tool
  14. kid — child
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. squash — to crush
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. kid — to tease
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. stock — shares
  21. perch — the fish
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. mate — to breed
  24. sharp — with an edge

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