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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. wind — moving air
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. net — in sport
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. net — for catching
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. kid — child
  12. squash — the sport
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. hand — help
  15. season — in sport
  16. season — of the year
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bark — to shout
  20. kid — to tease
  21. squash — to crush
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. rush — hurry

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