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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. rash — hasty
  3. cold — not warm
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. fall — to drop
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. fall — the season
  8. rash — a series
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wound — an injury
  11. scale — in music
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. fall — to drop
  15. wound — an injury
  16. scale — size or range
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. bear — the animal
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bear — the animal
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. squash — the sport
  24. straw — a straw man

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