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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 · toast · cold · lean · bat · date · stock · squash

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. date — the fruit
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. squash — to crush
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. toast — bread
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bat — the animal
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. cold — not warm
  13. stock — goods
  14. stock — shares
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. squash — the sport
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. lean — to bend
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. lean — thin
  24. cold — an illness

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