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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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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: squash · dip · wound · club · perch · land · fine · ground

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. land — to come down
  3. ground — crushed
  4. fine — high quality
  5. squash — the sport
  6. land — ground
  7. land — a country
  8. ground — a position
  9. perch — the fish
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — an injury
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. squash — to crush
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. club — for dancing
  17. dip — to sink
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. club — for golf
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. ground — the earth
  24. club — a group

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