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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 120 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: arm · fall · lie · band · pop · tear · squash · spring

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pop — to visit
  3. fall — to drop
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. spring — the season
  6. tear — to rip
  7. lie — to recline
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. squash — the sport
  12. band — a music group
  13. fall — to drop
  14. pop — soda
  15. squash — to crush
  16. spring — of water
  17. band — a ring
  18. pop — music
  19. tear — from crying
  20. spring — a coil
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. fall — the season
  24. arm — a part of something

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