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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  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. squash — to crush
  2. squash — the sport
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. band — a ring
  6. scale — size or range
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. ground — a position
  9. ground — crushed
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. bound — obliged
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bound — certain
  14. scale — in music
  15. bound — tied together
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. ground — the earth
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bark — to shout
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. band — a music group
  24. prune — the fruit

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