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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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. stem — to come from
  3. key — in music
  4. bark — to shout
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. key — the most important part
  8. band — a ring
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. race — humankind
  11. wound — an injury
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. dip — to sink
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. race — the arms race
  18. squash — the sport
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. key — for a lock
  21. race — a contest
  22. band — a music group
  23. wound — an injury
  24. squash — the vegetable

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