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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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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  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. net — after costs
  2. net — for catching
  3. fork — in a road
  4. bank — of a river
  5. squash — to crush
  6. spring — a coil
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. net — in sport
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. clip — to cut
  13. spring — of water
  14. bank — for money
  15. clip — for paper
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. bark — to shout
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. bank — for money
  20. clip — a video
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. spring — the season
  23. wind — moving air
  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