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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. band — a music group
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. spell — magic
  6. wound — an injury
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. spell — letters
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. kid — child
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. wound — an injury
  13. squash — to crush
  14. prune — to trim
  15. squash — the sport
  16. band — a ring
  17. prune — to trim
  18. spell — a short time
  19. snap — to click
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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