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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 116 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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  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. tear — from crying
  2. mate — a friend
  3. spell — letters
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. spell — a short time
  6. rush — hurry
  7. squash — to crush
  8. kick — in football
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tube — the underground
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. mate — a partner
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. mate — to breed
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. spell — magic
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. tube — a container
  21. squash — the sport
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. tear — to rip
  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