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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. squash — the sport
  3. foot — a measure
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. season — in sport
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. squash — to crush
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. band — a ring
  13. firm — a company
  14. bat — the animal
  15. band — a music group
  16. firm — steady
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. firm — decided
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. season — of the year
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. game — a match

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