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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. object — a thing
  3. hand — in cards
  4. squash — the sport
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. plane — a tool
  7. cell — a phone
  8. tear — to rip
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cap — a lid
  11. object — to protest
  12. spring — of water
  13. cell — in biology
  14. tear — from crying
  15. hand — help
  16. object — an aim
  17. squash — to crush
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. spring — a coil
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. cap — a hat
  23. spring — the season
  24. cap — of ice

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