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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: cabinet · tear · toast · squash · bat · deal · file · cap

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. deal — to handle
  4. file — a line of people
  5. squash — the sport
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. cap — of ice
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — the animal
  13. cap — a hat
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. squash — to crush
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. file — a document
  20. toast — bread
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. cap — a lid
  23. tear — to rip
  24. file — a 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