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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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Word bank
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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: squash · deal · pop · season · game · pitcher · bound · cold

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. cold — an illness
  9. season — in sport
  10. squash — to crush
  11. squash — the sport
  12. bound — tied together
  13. game — wild animals
  14. cold — not warm
  15. pop — to visit
  16. game — a match
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bound — certain
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. pop — music
  21. deal — to handle
  22. pop — soda
  23. bound — obliged
  24. season — of the year

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