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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. field — for sport
  3. chest — a box
  4. wound — an injury
  5. squash — to crush
  6. tear — from crying
  7. field — a subject
  8. wound — an injury
  9. squash — the sport
  10. object — a thing
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. staff — a stick
  14. staff — employees
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. object — an aim
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. tear — from crying
  20. object — to protest
  21. staff — employees
  22. field — farmland
  23. tear — to rip
  24. wax — to grow

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