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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. rash — hasty
  3. cold — not warm
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. present — there
  8. kid — child
  9. fork — in a road
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. kid — to tease
  12. present — a gift
  13. rash — a series
  14. snap — to click
  15. present — the time now
  16. net — after costs
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. net — in sport
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cold — an illness
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. wind — moving air

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