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

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. wound — an injury
  3. spring — the season
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. squash — the sport
  7. track — a path
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. spring — a coil
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. pitch — completely
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. track — a song
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. lie — to recline
  19. track — to keep track
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. spring — of water
  24. straw — dry grass

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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