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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 owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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. perch — for a bird
  4. clip — to cut
  5. perch — the fish
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. season — of the year
  12. capital — a city
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. clip — for paper
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. season — in sport
  20. plane — a tool
  21. clip — a video
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. capital — money
  24. squash — to crush

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