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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. chest — of your body
  3. perch — the fish
  4. cap — of ice
  5. spring — of water
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. squash — the sport
  8. cap — a hat
  9. chest — a box
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. cap — a lid
  14. scale — in music
  15. rule — a law
  16. scale — size or range
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. rule — government
  19. spring — the season
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. chest — of your body
  22. spring — a coil
  23. squash — to crush
  24. fork — in a road

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