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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. rock — music
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. rock — a stone
  6. spring — a coil
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. spring — of water
  9. scale — in music
  10. season — in sport
  11. season — of the year
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. scale — size or range
  14. hand — in cards
  15. spring — the season
  16. hand — help
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. toast — bread
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. squash — the sport
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. squash — to crush
  24. hand — part of the body

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