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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 116 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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Word bank
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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: tear · file · degree · squash · mate · lie

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. tear — to rip
  3. degree — from a university
  4. tear — from crying
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. lie — to recline
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. tear — from crying
  9. file — a tool
  10. squash — to crush
  11. file — a line of people
  12. mate — a partner
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — an amount
  15. mate — a friend
  16. squash — the sport
  17. mate — to breed
  18. file — a document

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