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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. land — to come down
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. bulb — for light
  5. can — a tin
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. cold — not warm
  8. rash — a series
  9. file — a line of people
  10. can — a tin
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bulb — for light
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. rash — hasty
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. sharp — clever
  17. can — to be able to
  18. squash — the sport
  19. file — a tool
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. land — ground
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. land — a country
  24. file — a document

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