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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. foot — a measure
  3. shower — to wash
  4. wind — moving air
  5. prune — to trim
  6. season — of the year
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bass — low music
  11. date — the fruit
  12. squash — the sport
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. season — in sport
  18. shower — rain
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. squash — to crush
  24. prune — the fruit

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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