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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 120 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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. spell — letters
  4. tear — to rip
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. object — a thing
  8. spell — a short time
  9. tear — from crying
  10. game — wild animals
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. squash — the sport
  13. game — a match
  14. object — an aim
  15. court — of law
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. court — of a king
  18. court — for sport
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. tear — from crying
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. squash — to crush
  24. spell — magic

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