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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. squash — to crush
  5. club — for dancing
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. staff — employees
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. club — a group
  11. date — the fruit
  12. cell — in biology
  13. staff — employees
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. club — for golf
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. staff — a stick
  19. wake — a trail
  20. squash — the sport
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. cell — a phone
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. cell — in a prison

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