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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. cap — a lid
  3. cell — in biology
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. race — humankind
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. rest — what's left
  9. squash — to crush
  10. cap — a hat
  11. wound — an injury
  12. kick — in football
  13. cell — a phone
  14. rest — what's left
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. squash — the sport
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. cap — of ice
  19. wound — an injury
  20. race — the arms race
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. race — a contest
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. rest — a break

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