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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. lean — to bend
  4. rock — music
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. deal — to handle
  7. court — for sport
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. tear — from crying
  10. lean — thin
  11. tear — from crying
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. court — of law
  16. clip — to cut
  17. rock — a stone
  18. tear — to rip
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. squash — the sport
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. court — of a king

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