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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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. ground — a position
  3. pitch — completely
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. ground — the earth
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. ground — crushed
  15. last — final
  16. mine — for digging
  17. squash — the sport
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. last — to go on
  21. season — in sport
  22. last — finally
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. season — of the year

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