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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. kid — to tease
  4. rock — music
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. craft — a skill
  8. snap — to click
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. clip — a video
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — for paper
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. rock — a stone
  18. kid — child
  19. squash — to crush
  20. date — the fruit
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. craft — boats
  24. squash — the vegetable

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