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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. kid — to tease
  4. spring — the season
  5. lean — thin
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. object — to protest
  8. lean — to bend
  9. object — an aim
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. kid — child
  13. spring — a coil
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. tear — to rip
  17. pitch — completely
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. object — a thing
  20. spring — of water
  21. tear — from crying
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. tear — from crying
  24. squash — to crush

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