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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: dip · lean · squash · pop · snap · tear · field · stick

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — from crying
  3. pop — music
  4. pop — to visit
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. lean — to bend
  7. lean — thin
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. squash — the sport
  10. pop — soda
  11. field — for sport
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. field — a subject
  16. squash — to crush
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. snap — to click
  19. dip — to sink
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. tear — to rip
  23. field — farmland
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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