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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. tear — to rip
  3. squash — the sport
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. tear — from crying
  6. ground — a position
  7. bass — the fish
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. bat — the animal
  12. game — wild animals
  13. ground — the earth
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. squash — to crush
  18. ground — crushed
  19. game — a match
  20. bass — low music
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. tear — from crying
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. bat — in an idiom

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