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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: chair · bowl · squash · craft · land · mouse · pop · cold

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. cold — an illness
  5. chair — a leader
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. cold — not warm
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. pop — to visit
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. pop — music
  15. land — ground
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. craft — a skill
  18. land — to come down
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. land — a country
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. squash — the sport
  23. squash — to crush
  24. craft — boats

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