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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. rash — hasty
  3. rash — a series
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. saw — the tool
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. squash — the sport
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. stem — to come from
  13. saw — the tool
  14. clip — to cut
  15. squash — to crush
  16. date — the fruit
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. wound — an injury
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. clip — for paper
  22. wound — an injury
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. clip — a video

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