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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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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: bay · press · cell · chip · bowl · wound · tear · squash

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. tear — to rip
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. tear — from crying
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. press — newspapers
  9. press — to push
  10. wound — an injury
  11. squash — to crush
  12. press — a publisher
  13. chip — for betting
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — a phone
  16. wound — an injury
  17. squash — the sport
  18. cell — in biology
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. chip — to eat
  23. tear — from crying
  24. squash — the vegetable

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