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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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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: wound · toast · squash · tear · file · lie · plane · ground

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. tear — to rip
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ground — a position
  5. toast — bread
  6. plane — a tool
  7. file — a line of people
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. file — a document
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. lie — to recline
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. squash — to crush
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. tear — from crying
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. ground — the earth
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. squash — the sport
  21. wound — an injury
  22. tear — from crying
  23. wound — an injury
  24. plane — in geometry

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