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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. bass — low music
  3. wound — an injury
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. drill — the tool
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. drill — a practice
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — to tease
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. bass — the fish
  12. tear — from crying
  13. drill — army training
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. wound — an injury
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. squash — to crush
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. tear — to rip
  21. sharp — clever
  22. lie — to recline
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. squash — the sport

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