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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 cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. chip — to eat
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. cell — in biology
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. race — humankind
  7. content — happy
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. race — a contest
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. hand — help
  12. content — the amount
  13. hand — in cards
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. race — the arms race
  16. cell — a phone
  17. chip — for betting
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. squash — the sport
  23. squash — to crush
  24. prune — to trim

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