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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. squash — the sport
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. staff — employees
  5. staff — a stick
  6. last — to go on
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. shower — rain
  9. last — final
  10. row — a line
  11. row — to paddle
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. squash — to crush
  16. net — after costs
  17. wound — an injury
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. net — for catching
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. last — finally
  22. shower — to wash
  23. wound — an injury
  24. net — in 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