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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 116 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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. sharp — clever
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. bulb — for light
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. cell — a phone
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. squash — to crush
  16. bulb — for light
  17. file — a tool
  18. cell — in biology
  19. file — a line of people
  20. squash — the sport
  21. rush — hurry
  22. file — a document
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — a jug

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