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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: tear · pit · pop · cold · mate · game · arm · squash

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. mate — a partner
  8. mate — to breed
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. pop — soda
  12. pit — a hole
  13. pop — music
  14. pop — to visit
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. squash — the sport
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. squash — to crush
  19. mate — a friend
  20. pit — in a race
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. game — a match
  23. tear — to rip
  24. game — wild animals

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