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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. prune — to trim
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. squash — to crush
  5. cold — an illness
  6. last — final
  7. band — a ring
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. cold — not warm
  10. last — finally
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. last — to go on
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. chip — to eat
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. chip — for betting
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. vault — a safe
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. band — a music group

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