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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. ground — the earth
  3. charge — electricity
  4. tear — from crying
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. tear — to rip
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — a coil
  9. squash — the sport
  10. tear — from crying
  11. ground — a position
  12. charge — in control
  13. bound — certain
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. charge — a price
  16. ground — crushed
  17. kid — child
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. bound — obliged
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. kid — to tease
  23. spring — the season
  24. bound — tied together

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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