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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: tear · safe · pop · mouse · squash · field · last · cold

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. last — finally
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. field — farmland
  6. pop — soda
  7. last — to go on
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. tear — from crying
  11. cold — an illness
  12. squash — to crush
  13. field — for sport
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. squash — the sport
  17. tear — from crying
  18. pop — music
  19. field — a subject
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pop — to visit
  22. tear — to rip
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. squash — the vegetable

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