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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: squash · rock · kid · bay · mate · mine · tear · field

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. kid — child
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. squash — to crush
  10. mate — to breed
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. rock — music
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. mate — a partner
  16. kid — to tease
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. rock — a stone
  19. field — a subject
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mate — a friend
  23. squash — the sport
  24. mine — an explosive

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