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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. prune — to trim
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. last — final
  6. suit — to fit
  7. suit — in cards
  8. squash — the sport
  9. wind — moving air
  10. suit — clothes
  11. squash — to crush
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. last — to go on
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. net — in sport
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. prune — to trim
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. net — for catching
  22. last — finally
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — the tool

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