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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: row · bore · squash · wound · stem · rush · content · saw

  1. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. content — happy
  3. row — to paddle
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. squash — to crush
  6. squash — the sport
  7. saw — the tool
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. rush — hurry
  15. stem — to come from
  16. bore — to drill
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. wound — an injury
  21. saw — the tool
  22. bore — to tire
  23. content — the amount
  24. row — a line

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