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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. squash — the sport
  3. rock — a stone
  4. tear — to rip
  5. game — a match
  6. game — wild animals
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. tear — from crying
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. wind — moving air
  13. rock — music
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — clever
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. fork — in a road
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. squash — to crush
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. wind — moving air

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