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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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. squash — to crush
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. net — after costs
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. face — part of the head
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. net — for catching
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. land — to come down
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pop — soda
  17. pop — music
  18. face — to point toward
  19. land — ground
  20. face — to confront
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. land — a country
  23. net — in sport
  24. pop — to visit

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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