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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. drill — army training
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. capital — money
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. drill — a practice
  9. squash — the sport
  10. squash — to crush
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. hand — in cards
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. perch — the fish
  18. drill — the tool
  19. cell — a phone
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. hand — help
  22. season — in sport
  23. season — of the year
  24. pitcher — a jug

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