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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. net — after costs
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. tear — from crying
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. tear — to rip
  9. squash — the sport
  10. chest — a box
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. rash — a series
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — of your body
  15. squash — to crush
  16. tear — from crying
  17. mine — for digging
  18. rash — hasty
  19. net — for catching
  20. pit — a hole
  21. pit — in a race
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. mine — belonging to me

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