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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 116 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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. tube — the underground
  3. tear — from crying
  4. mark — a trace
  5. cue — a signal
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. clip — to cut
  9. deal — to handle
  10. clip — for paper
  11. tear — to rip
  12. mark — a grade
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. squash — the sport
  16. cue — for pool
  17. clip — a video
  18. cue — a hint
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. tube — a container
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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