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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. bear — the animal
  6. squash — the sport
  7. capital — money
  8. capital — a city
  9. chest — of your body
  10. spring — of water
  11. chest — of your body
  12. spring — the season
  13. spring — a coil
  14. drill — the tool
  15. rule — government
  16. rule — a law
  17. bear — the animal
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. drill — army training
  20. drill — a practice
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. chest — a box
  24. bear — to put up with

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