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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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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. race — a contest
  3. tear — to rip
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. press — to push
  6. race — the arms race
  7. race — humankind
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bat — the animal
  11. tear — from crying
  12. perch — the fish
  13. shower — rain
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. tear — from crying
  17. press — newspapers
  18. press — a publisher
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. squash — the sport
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. shower — to wash

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