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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. season — in sport
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. stock — goods
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. bat — the animal
  10. season — of the year
  11. rash — a series
  12. object — to protest
  13. fork — in a road
  14. tear — from crying
  15. stock — shares
  16. squash — to crush
  17. tear — from crying
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. object — an aim
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. tear — to rip
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. object — a thing
  24. rash — hasty

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