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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: squash · tear · pass · clip · rash · sharp · spell · cold

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. spell — letters
  3. pass — a permit
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. spell — magic
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. rash — a series
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. tear — to rip
  12. sharp — clever
  13. squash — the sport
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — to cut
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. spell — a short time
  21. rash — hasty
  22. cold — not warm
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — from crying

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