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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. shower — rain
  4. cell — a phone
  5. squash — the sport
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. cell — in biology
  8. squash — to crush
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. spring — the season
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. content — happy
  13. content — the amount
  14. plane — a tool
  15. spring — a coil
  16. shower — to wash
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. scale — in music
  20. spring — of water
  21. scale — size or range
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. scale — for weighing

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