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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 116 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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. prune — to trim
  3. court — of law
  4. cell — in biology
  5. lean — to bend
  6. prune — to trim
  7. scale — size or range
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. track — to keep track
  10. scale — in music
  11. court — for sport
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. squash — the sport
  16. track — a path
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. track — a song
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. cell — a phone
  21. court — of a king
  22. lean — thin
  23. kid — to tease
  24. scale — for weighing

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