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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. craft — boats
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. band — a music group
  6. game — wild animals
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. squash — to crush
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. game — a match
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. squash — the sport
  14. wax — to grow
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. tear — to rip
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. band — a ring
  20. craft — a skill
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — from crying
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. straw — dry grass

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