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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: squash · tear · spring · roll · chest · arm · pit · wound

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. tear — to rip
  3. wound — an injury
  4. tear — from crying
  5. chest — of your body
  6. spring — the season
  7. tear — from crying
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. spring — of water
  11. pit — a hole
  12. roll — a list
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. roll — a cake
  15. pit — in a race
  16. wound — an injury
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. spring — a coil
  21. squash — to crush
  22. chest — a box
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. arm — a part of something

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