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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. band — a ring
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. wind — moving air
  5. squash — to crush
  6. net — after costs
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. net — for catching
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. net — in sport
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. shower — rain
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. wind — moving air
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. squash — the sport
  17. deal — to handle
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. band — a music group
  20. shower — to wash
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. wind — to turn a key

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