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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 120 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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. squash — the sport
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. rush — hurry
  5. tear — from crying
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bore — to drill
  9. cold — not warm
  10. squash — to crush
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. tear — from crying
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bore — to tire
  17. staff — employees
  18. bat — the animal
  19. staff — employees
  20. cold — an illness
  21. chair — a leader
  22. staff — a stick
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. tear — to rip

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