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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. cell — a phone
  3. board — a committee
  4. race — humankind
  5. board — to get on
  6. snap — to click
  7. race — the arms race
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. race — a contest
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. squash — to crush
  13. cell — in biology
  14. bat — the animal
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. press — a publisher
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. press — to push
  20. press — newspapers
  21. squash — the sport
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. bat — for baseball

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