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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. hand — in cards
  4. rush — hurry
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. cap — of ice
  7. squash — the sport
  8. spring — a coil
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. content — happy
  11. hand — help
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. cap — a lid
  15. spring — the season
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. squash — to crush
  18. bark — to shout
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. content — the amount
  21. cap — a hat
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. spring — of water
  24. rush — a thrill

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