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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: tube · rest · cold · calf · squash · tear · spring · dip

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. tube — the underground
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. rest — what's left
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. rest — a break
  10. squash — to crush
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — not warm
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — a coil
  15. rest — what's left
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. tear — from crying
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. spring — of water
  20. squash — the sport
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. tube — a container
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. dip — to sink

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