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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: fall · stock · squash · straw · spring · ground · tear · cap

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  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. squash — to crush
  2. tear — to rip
  3. cap — of ice
  4. tear — from crying
  5. stock — shares
  6. ground — crushed
  7. spring — the season
  8. ground — a position
  9. fall — the season
  10. fall — to drop
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. fall — to drop
  14. spring — of water
  15. ground — the earth
  16. squash — the sport
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. tear — from crying
  19. cap — a lid
  20. stock — goods
  21. cap — a hat
  22. spring — a coil
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  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