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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — to crush
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bass — the fish
  6. rash — a series
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. rash — hasty
  10. file — a tool
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. game — a match
  14. bank — of a river
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. game — wild animals
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. bank — for money
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. file — a line of people
  22. bass — low music
  23. bank — for money
  24. file — a document

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