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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. object — to protest
  6. spell — letters
  7. object — an aim
  8. object — a thing
  9. squash — to crush
  10. squash — the sport
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. hand — in cards
  13. spell — a short time
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — moving air
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. rush — hurry
  18. bear — the animal
  19. perch — the fish
  20. spell — magic
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bear — the animal
  23. hand — help
  24. perch — for a bird

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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