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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. mate — a partner
  3. staff — employees
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. squash — the sport
  6. ground — crushed
  7. cell — in biology
  8. staff — employees
  9. rest — what's left
  10. cold — an illness
  11. rest — what's left
  12. squash — to crush
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. mate — to breed
  15. ground — a position
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. staff — a stick
  18. rest — a break
  19. cell — a phone
  20. ground — the earth
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mate — a friend
  23. stem — to come from
  24. cell — in a prison

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