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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. kid — child
  3. cold — not warm
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. bound — tied together
  6. branch — a division
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. band — a music group
  10. club — a group
  11. club — for dancing
  12. squash — the sport
  13. kid — to tease
  14. squash — to crush
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. cold — an illness
  20. sharp — clever
  21. club — for golf
  22. bound — certain
  23. bound — obliged
  24. band — a ring

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