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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: chest · wound · squash · sharp · snap · kid · spell · file

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. file — a line of people
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. sharp — clever
  5. squash — to crush
  6. chest — of your body
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. wound — an injury
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. chest — a box
  11. spell — magic
  12. wound — an injury
  13. file — a tool
  14. squash — the sport
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. spell — a short time
  19. snap — to click
  20. chest — of your body
  21. kid — to tease
  22. kid — child
  23. file — a document
  24. spell — letters

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