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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. squash — to crush
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. court — of a king
  5. perch — the fish
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. court — for sport
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. wind — moving air
  10. shower — rain
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. land — ground
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. shower — to wash
  17. land — a country
  18. land — to come down
  19. court — of law
  20. deal — to handle
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. wind — moving air
  24. branch — a division

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