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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. tear — from crying
  3. squash — to crush
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. tear — to rip
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. cold — an illness
  11. rash — a series
  12. tear — from crying
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. press — to push
  16. cold — not warm
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. rash — hasty
  20. content — the amount
  21. content — happy
  22. press — a publisher
  23. press — newspapers
  24. leaves — to go away

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