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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. wound — an injury
  5. sharp — clever
  6. vault — in gymnastics
  7. vault — a safe
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. squash — the sport
  12. tear — from crying
  13. spell — a short time
  14. spell — letters
  15. spell — magic
  16. squash — to crush
  17. tear — to rip
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. wound — an injury
  24. tear — from crying

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