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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. net — after costs
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. net — in sport
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. mate — a friend
  10. saw — the tool
  11. mate — a partner
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. saw — the tool
  14. net — for catching
  15. degree — from a university
  16. mate — to breed
  17. degree — an amount
  18. sharp — clever
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. rush — hurry
  21. squash — to crush
  22. degree — temperature
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. squash — the sport

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