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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. tear — from crying
  3. squash — the sport
  4. track — a song
  5. track — to keep track
  6. hand — help
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. track — a path
  11. tube — a container
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. squash — to crush
  14. tube — the underground
  15. fall — to drop
  16. cold — not warm
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. fall — to drop
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fall — the season
  22. tear — from crying
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. toast — bread

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