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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. row — to paddle
  4. last — final
  5. ground — the earth
  6. rash — a series
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. ground — crushed
  9. row — a line
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. clip — a video
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. stem — to come from
  16. last — to go on
  17. ground — a position
  18. squash — to crush
  19. clip — for paper
  20. rash — hasty
  21. last — finally
  22. clip — to cut
  23. season — in sport
  24. season — of the year

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