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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pound · degree · rest · jam · squash · tear

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. 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. jam — to spread on bread
  3. degree — from a university
  4. rest — what's left
  5. tear — from crying
  6. squash — the sport
  7. degree — an amount
  8. squash — to crush
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. tear — from crying
  11. pound — a weight
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. rest — a break
  15. rest — what's left
  16. degree — temperature
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. 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