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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: snap · game · squash · mark · key · face · tear · fork

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. tear — to rip
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. snap — to click
  6. key — the most important part
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. squash — to crush
  9. tear — from crying
  10. face — part of the head
  11. game — a match
  12. face — to point toward
  13. key — for a lock
  14. mark — a trace
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. squash — the sport
  18. mark — a grade
  19. face — to confront
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. fork — in a road
  22. key — in music
  23. game — wild animals
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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