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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 120 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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. chair — a leader
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. pop — music
  7. face — to confront
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. content — happy
  10. face — part of the head
  11. squash — to crush
  12. content — the amount
  13. game — wild animals
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. field — for sport
  17. squash — the sport
  18. pop — soda
  19. face — to point toward
  20. pop — to visit
  21. field — farmland
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. field — a subject
  24. game — a match

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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