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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. present — there
  4. bark — to shout
  5. bass — the fish
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. lie — to recline
  9. cold — not warm
  10. kid — child
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. cold — an illness
  15. squash — the sport
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. tear — from crying
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bass — low music
  23. present — a gift
  24. present — the time now

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