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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. plane — a tool
  3. net — in sport
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. squash — the sport
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. row — a line
  10. bark — to shout
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. net — after costs
  14. scale — in music
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. row — to paddle
  18. rush — hurry
  19. scale — size or range
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. squash — to crush
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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