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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. squash — the sport
  3. march — the month
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. net — in sport
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. net — after costs
  8. cell — a phone
  9. game — wild animals
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. march — music
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. net — for catching
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. game — a match
  17. cell — in biology
  18. march — the month
  19. tear — from crying
  20. perch — the fish
  21. rule — a law
  22. squash — to crush
  23. rule — government
  24. tear — to rip

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