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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wound — an injury
  3. squash — to crush
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — from crying
  7. drill — army training
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. rash — a series
  10. snap — to click
  11. degree — from a university
  12. degree — temperature
  13. rash — hasty
  14. key — in music
  15. squash — the sport
  16. degree — an amount
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. tear — to rip
  21. key — for a lock
  22. drill — the tool
  23. drill — a practice
  24. key — the most important part

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