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

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. net — after costs
  3. mark — a grade
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. net — for catching
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. net — in sport
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. file — a tool
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. file — a document
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. mark — a trace
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. pound — a weight
  21. file — a line of people
  22. plane — a tool
  23. bat — the animal
  24. squash — the sport

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