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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — to crush
  4. bass — the fish
  5. bass — low music
  6. degree — from a university
  7. staff — employees
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. squash — the sport
  10. bat — the animal
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. staff — a stick
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. field — farmland
  15. degree — an amount
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. chip — to eat
  18. staff — employees
  19. chip — for betting
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. degree — temperature
  22. field — for sport
  23. field — a subject
  24. bat — in an idiom

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