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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. rash — hasty
  3. wound — an injury
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. stem — to come from
  7. present — a gift
  8. squash — the sport
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. can — to be able to
  14. wound — an injury
  15. present — the time now
  16. pass — a permit
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. can — a tin
  19. cold — an illness
  20. present — there
  21. cold — not warm
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. rash — a series
  24. can — a tin

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