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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: season · tear · chest · cue · bore · field · rash · squash

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. season — in sport
  3. squash — to crush
  4. cue — a hint
  5. rash — hasty
  6. tear — from crying
  7. squash — the sport
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — farmland
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. field — for sport
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. bore — to tire
  16. rash — a series
  17. cue — for pool
  18. bore — to drill
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. season — of the year
  21. tear — to rip
  22. cue — a signal
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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