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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 120 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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. bat — the animal
  4. swing — music
  5. craft — boats
  6. wound — an injury
  7. stock — shares
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. swing — to play on
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. mine — for digging
  16. pass — a permit
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. swing — in golf
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. wound — an injury
  22. craft — a skill
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. squash — the sport

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