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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: rash · fork · degree · mouse · tube · squash · cold · lean

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. rash — hasty
  3. cold — not warm
  4. tube — the underground
  5. degree — from a university
  6. degree — an amount
  7. tube — a container
  8. squash — the sport
  9. lean — to bend
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. fork — in a road
  14. lean — thin
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. degree — temperature
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. rash — a series
  23. cold — an illness
  24. fork — a garden tool

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