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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'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. spell — a short time
  3. track — a song
  4. squash — to crush
  5. land — a country
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. ground — a position
  8. spell — letters
  9. track — to keep track
  10. craft — boats
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. track — a path
  13. ground — crushed
  14. bass — the fish
  15. bass — low music
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. ground — the earth
  18. squash — the sport
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. kid — to tease
  21. land — to come down
  22. spell — magic
  23. kid — child
  24. craft — a skill

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