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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: tear · hand · spell · bat · date · squash · chest · press

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. chest — of your body
  5. squash — the sport
  6. chest — a box
  7. press — a publisher
  8. hand — in cards
  9. press — newspapers
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. date — the fruit
  12. tear — from crying
  13. hand — help
  14. bat — the animal
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. press — to push
  17. spell — magic
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. chest — of your body
  20. spell — a short time
  21. tear — from crying
  22. squash — to crush
  23. spell — letters
  24. squash — the vegetable

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