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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 120 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: bound · bowl · squash · rush · wound · pitch · tear · cell

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. squash — the sport
  4. cell — in biology
  5. rush — hurry
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. bound — obliged
  8. cell — a phone
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. tear — from crying
  11. squash — to crush
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. pitch — completely
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. bound — certain
  18. tear — from crying
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. bound — tied together
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. cell — in a prison

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