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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. perch — the fish
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. prune — to trim
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. march — music
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. content — the amount
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — child
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. prune — to trim
  16. squash — to crush
  17. branch — a division
  18. march — the month
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. content — happy
  21. deal — to handle
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. march — the month

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