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

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. spring — of water
  3. bore — to drill
  4. squash — the sport
  5. bore — to tire
  6. file — a document
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. spring — the season
  9. file — a line of people
  10. hand — in cards
  11. spring — a coil
  12. pop — soda
  13. file — a tool
  14. hand — help
  15. pop — to visit
  16. squash — to crush
  17. pop — music
  18. bore — gave birth

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