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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. rush — hurry
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. bat — the animal
  6. prune — to trim
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. cue — a signal
  10. content — the amount
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. cue — for pool
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. cue — a hint
  15. pound — a weight
  16. content — happy
  17. prune — to trim
  18. squash — to crush
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. wake — a trail
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. content — videos and posts

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