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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 took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. net — after costs
  3. file — a document
  4. land — to come down
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. squash — the sport
  7. snap — to click
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. squash — to crush
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. scale — size or range
  12. file — a line of people
  13. land — a country
  14. scale — in music
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. land — ground
  17. net — in sport
  18. file — a tool
  19. rash — a series
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. rash — hasty
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. scale — for weighing

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