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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 116 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: drill · tear · squash · game · kid · lash · row · stem

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. kid — child
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. drill — the tool
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. stem — to come from
  12. game — a match
  13. drill — army training
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — to crush
  16. row — to paddle
  17. game — wild animals
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. row — a line
  23. drill — a practice
  24. kid — to tease

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