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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. saw — the tool
  4. rash — a series
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. rush — hurry
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. kid — child
  14. squash — the sport
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. chest — of your body
  17. spring — a coil
  18. chest — a box
  19. rash — hasty
  20. squash — to crush
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — the season
  23. chest — of your body
  24. saw — the tool

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