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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. squash — to crush
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. kid — child
  5. ground — a position
  6. cap — a lid
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. file — a document
  9. saw — the tool
  10. file — a tool
  11. ground — crushed
  12. squash — the sport
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. file — a line of people
  15. ground — the earth
  16. wind — moving air
  17. cap — a hat
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. wind — moving air
  21. kid — to tease
  22. cap — of ice
  23. chair — a leader
  24. saw — the tool

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