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

Word bank: game · key · cell · cap · race · perch · squash · kid

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. kid — to tease
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. squash — to crush
  5. key — in music
  6. race — the arms race
  7. race — a contest
  8. perch — the fish
  9. cell — a phone
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cap — a hat
  15. cap — a lid
  16. key — for a lock
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. key — the most important part
  19. cap — of ice
  20. game — a match
  21. squash — the sport
  22. cell — in biology
  23. race — humankind
  24. game — wild animals

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