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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. fall — to drop
  3. net — after costs
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. cell — a phone
  6. row — a line
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. cell — in biology
  9. row — to paddle
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. net — in sport
  15. fall — the season
  16. net — for catching
  17. squash — to crush
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — to trim
  24. fall — to drop

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