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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. suit — to fit
  3. wake — a trail
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. squash — to crush
  12. season — in sport
  13. branch — a division
  14. squash — the sport
  15. tear — from crying
  16. hand — in cards
  17. mine — for digging
  18. hand — help
  19. suit — in cards
  20. tear — to rip
  21. suit — clothes
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. season — of the year
  24. branch — of a bank

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