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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. tear — from crying
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. squash — to crush
  9. tear — from crying
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. stock — shares
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. pass — a permit
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. tear — to rip
  18. stock — goods
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. foot — a measure
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pass — to spend time

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