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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. ball — a dance
  3. squash — to crush
  4. spell — a short time
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. ground — the earth
  7. pitch — completely
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. spell — letters
  10. ground — a position
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. ball — a great time
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. wake — a trail
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. spell — magic
  17. ground — crushed
  18. rush — hurry
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. squash — the sport
  24. cell — in biology

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