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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. staff — employees
  3. squash — the sport
  4. cap — a hat
  5. bass — low music
  6. degree — from a university
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. staff — employees
  9. rush — hurry
  10. cap — a lid
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. squash — to crush
  14. degree — an amount
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. cap — of ice
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bark — to shout
  22. staff — a stick
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bark — of a tree

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