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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. court — of law
  3. key — the most important part
  4. file — a tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. file — a document
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wake — a trail
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. degree — from a university
  12. file — a line of people
  13. court — for sport
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. squash — to crush
  16. saw — the tool
  17. key — for a lock
  18. degree — an amount
  19. wind — moving air
  20. key — in music
  21. degree — temperature
  22. court — of a king
  23. wind — moving air
  24. squash — the sport

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