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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: plane · spell · ruler · squash · cold · straw · bank · kid

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. squash — to crush
  3. plane — a tool
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. squash — the sport
  6. bank — of a river
  7. spell — letters
  8. bank — for money
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. bank — for money
  15. spell — a short time
  16. kid — to tease
  17. cold — not warm
  18. kid — child
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. spell — magic
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. cold — an illness

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