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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: squash · chest · tear · chair · prune · rule · stick · spell

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. spell — magic
  3. tear — from crying
  4. chest — of your body
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. tear — to rip
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chair — a leader
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. chest — a box
  11. prune — to trim
  12. squash — to crush
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. tear — from crying
  15. spell — letters
  16. prune — to trim
  17. spell — a short time
  18. rule — government
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. squash — the sport
  21. rule — a law
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. chair — to sit on

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