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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. race — humankind
  3. clip — for paper
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. chest — of your body
  7. race — a contest
  8. rash — a series
  9. chest — of your body
  10. rash — hasty
  11. object — to protest
  12. race — the arms race
  13. prune — to trim
  14. object — an aim
  15. chest — a box
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. squash — to crush
  19. squash — the sport
  20. prune — to trim
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. object — a thing
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. rash — on the skin

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