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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.

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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 · last · straw · land · squash · track · snap · cap

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. tear — from crying
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. tear — to rip
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. last — final
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. land — ground
  10. cap — a hat
  11. tear — from crying
  12. track — to keep track
  13. land — a country
  14. cap — of ice
  15. squash — the sport
  16. track — a path
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. track — a song
  19. squash — to crush
  20. snap — to click
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. cap — a lid
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — finally

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