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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 124 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chair · craft · wind · fall · race · perch · roll · squash

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. wind — moving air
  3. roll — a cake
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. race — a contest
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. perch — the fish
  8. squash — the sport
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. race — the arms race
  11. craft — boats
  12. fall — the season
  13. race — humankind
  14. craft — a skill
  15. fall — to drop
  16. wind — moving air
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. squash — to crush
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. chair — a leader
  23. fall — to drop
  24. roll — a list

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