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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 120 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: squash · bear · pound · cold · lash · tear · bound · wax

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  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. squash — the sport
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. bear — the animal
  5. squash — to crush
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bound — certain
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. bound — tied together
  11. cold — not warm
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. bear — the animal
  14. pound — a weight
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. tear — to rip
  17. bound — obliged
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. wax — to grow
  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