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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: scale · wind · spell · wound · straw · field · cue · squash

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. field — a subject
  3. cue — for pool
  4. spell — letters
  5. spell — a short time
  6. cue — a signal
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. scale — in music
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. cue — a hint
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. squash — the sport
  19. field — farmland
  20. scale — size or range
  21. field — for sport
  22. wind — moving air
  23. spell — magic
  24. wind — moving air

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