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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. fall — to drop
  3. last — to go on
  4. last — finally
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. cold — an illness
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bank — for money
  9. bank — of a river
  10. tear — to rip
  11. tear — from crying
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. vault — a safe
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. squash — the sport
  16. last — final
  17. bank — for money
  18. shower — rain
  19. tear — from crying
  20. shower — to wash
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. fall — the season
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

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