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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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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 · squash · bear · cold · swing · hide · race · prune

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. swing — in golf
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. bear — the animal
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. race — a contest
  8. squash — to crush
  9. scale — in music
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bear — the animal
  12. prune — to trim
  13. race — the arms race
  14. squash — the sport
  15. race — humankind
  16. swing — music
  17. cold — an illness
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. scale — size or range
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. cold — not warm
  23. swing — to play on
  24. hide — to keep secret

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