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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. charge — electricity
  3. kid — to tease
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. hand — in cards
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. charge — a price
  8. cold — an illness
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. ground — the earth
  11. rush — hurry
  12. squash — the sport
  13. season — of the year
  14. kid — child
  15. hand — help
  16. cold — not warm
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. squash — to crush
  19. charge — in control
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. ground — crushed
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. ground — a position
  24. season — in 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