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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. content — the amount
  3. saw — the tool
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. spring — the season
  6. drill — the tool
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. march — the month
  9. march — the month
  10. saw — the tool
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. drill — army training
  13. spring — of water
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. content — happy
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. squash — the sport
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. drill — a practice
  21. squash — to crush
  22. march — music
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. spring — a coil

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