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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. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. capital — money
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. cold — not warm
  6. present — there
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. capital — a city
  11. squash — to crush
  12. chip — for betting
  13. present — a gift
  14. present — the time now
  15. squash — the sport
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bat — the animal
  18. branch — a division
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. chip — to eat
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. stand — to bear

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