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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: game · squash · racket · date · bear · cold · wind · toast

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bear — the animal
  3. toast — bread
  4. squash — to crush
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. squash — the sport
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. game — wild animals
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. game — a match
  19. date — the fruit
  20. bear — the animal
  21. cold — not warm
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. cold — an illness
  24. wind — moving air

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