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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. clip — for paper
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — after costs
  5. net — for catching
  6. squash — to crush
  7. can — a tin
  8. drill — army training
  9. squash — the sport
  10. shower — rain
  11. object — an aim
  12. can — a tin
  13. object — a thing
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. drill — the tool
  16. clip — a video
  17. drill — a practice
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. content — the amount
  20. clip — to cut
  21. can — to be able to
  22. object — to protest
  23. content — happy
  24. squash — the vegetable

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