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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: ground · toast · club · cold · land · snap · squash · present

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. land — a country
  3. club — for golf
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. ground — the earth
  6. ground — a position
  7. present — the time now
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. squash — the sport
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. ground — crushed
  12. squash — to crush
  13. cold — not warm
  14. toast — bread
  15. club — for dancing
  16. snap — to click
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. present — there
  20. cold — an illness
  21. land — ground
  22. club — a group
  23. land — to come down
  24. present — a gift

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