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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. mug — to rob
  3. rush — hurry
  4. kid — child
  5. club — for golf
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wound — an injury
  10. club — a group
  11. squash — to crush
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. mug — a cup
  14. mug — a face
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. squash — the sport
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. kid — to tease
  23. club — for dancing
  24. rush — a thrill

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