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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. file — a document
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. file — a line of people
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. rash — hasty
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. rash — a series
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. squash — the sport
  16. file — a tool
  17. game — wild animals
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. game — a match
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. bat — the animal
  24. foot — a measure

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