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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 sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. wound — an injury
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. game — a match
  7. wound — an injury
  8. mug — to rob
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. race — humankind
  11. race — a contest
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. mug — a cup
  14. mug — a face
  15. net — after costs
  16. net — in sport
  17. net — for catching
  18. race — the arms race
  19. game — wild animals
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. snap — to click
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wind — moving air

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