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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. wind — moving air
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. squash — the sport
  5. land — to come down
  6. saw — the tool
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. land — a country
  9. pitch — completely
  10. firm — decided
  11. perch — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. wind — moving air
  14. stock — goods
  15. firm — steady
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. land — ground
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. stock — shares
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. saw — the tool
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. firm — a company
  24. stock — a soup base

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