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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. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. content — happy
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. squash — the sport
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. dip — to sink
  9. content — the amount
  10. field — a subject
  11. squash — to crush
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. hand — help
  15. clip — a video
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. hand — in cards
  20. field — farmland
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. field — for sport
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — for paper

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