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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. net — for catching
  3. spring — a coil
  4. tear — to rip
  5. squash — the sport
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bark — to shout
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. net — in sport
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — of water
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. wake — a trail
  21. tear — from crying
  22. net — after costs
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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