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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. spring — of water
  3. clip — to cut
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. track — a song
  6. rule — a law
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — a video
  9. track — to keep track
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. spring — a coil
  12. tear — from crying
  13. rash — a series
  14. tear — to rip
  15. rash — hasty
  16. squash — to crush
  17. spring — the season
  18. track — a path
  19. rule — government
  20. fork — in a road
  21. tear — from crying
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. rule — to rule out

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