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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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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: rash · squash · tear · pop · staff · cell · wound · degree

  1. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. cell — in biology
  3. squash — to crush
  4. degree — from a university
  5. wound — an injury
  6. degree — an amount
  7. squash — the sport
  8. tear — to rip
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wound — an injury
  11. tear — from crying
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. pop — to visit
  15. staff — employees
  16. pop — soda
  17. staff — employees
  18. rash — hasty
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. staff — a stick
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. rash — a series
  23. tear — from crying
  24. degree — temperature

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