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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. squash — to crush
  3. rest — what's left
  4. spring — the season
  5. wound — an injury
  6. kid — to tease
  7. squash — the sport
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. bass — low music
  11. wind — moving air
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. bass — the fish
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. kid — child
  16. rest — what's left
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wind — moving air
  19. spring — a coil
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. branch — a division
  23. spring — of water
  24. rest — a break

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