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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. squash — the sport
  3. degree — an amount
  4. drill — the tool
  5. pitch — completely
  6. land — a country
  7. drill — a practice
  8. degree — temperature
  9. drill — army training
  10. land — ground
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. land — to come down
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. squash — to crush
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bark — to shout

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