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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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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: game · chest · straw · land · cold · fine · squash · root

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. root — the cause
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. squash — to crush
  5. chest — a box
  6. game — wild animals
  7. fine — high quality
  8. game — a match
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. cold — an illness
  11. squash — the sport
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cold — not warm
  15. root — of a word
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. land — ground
  18. land — to come down
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. land — a country
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. fine — all right
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. root — of a plant

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