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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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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: squash · content · rush · dip · race · fan · last · prune

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. last — to go on
  3. prune — to trim
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. content — the amount
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. race — humankind
  10. squash — to crush
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. last — finally
  14. squash — the sport
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. prune — to trim
  17. rush — hurry
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. last — final
  21. race — a contest
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. dip — to sink
  24. race — the arms race

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