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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. rash — hasty
  5. squash — the sport
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. file — a tool
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. saw — the tool
  15. rash — a series
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. prune — to trim
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. prune — to trim
  21. saw — the tool
  22. scale — size or range
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — for weighing

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