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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. spell — a short time
  3. squash — the sport
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. squash — to crush
  6. season — in sport
  7. season — of the year
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. tear — from crying
  11. branch — a division
  12. tear — to rip
  13. spell — letters
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. march — music
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. wound — an injury
  18. row — a line
  19. march — the month
  20. march — the month
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. spell — magic
  23. tear — from crying
  24. row — to paddle

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