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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. squash — the sport
  3. ball — a great time
  4. cold — not warm
  5. game — a match
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. content — the amount
  8. suit — to fit
  9. suit — in cards
  10. drill — the tool
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pit — a hole
  13. content — happy
  14. pit — in a race
  15. drill — a practice
  16. ball — a dance
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. drill — army training
  20. cold — an illness
  21. game — wild animals
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. suit — clothes
  24. game — a kind of play

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