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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. net — after costs
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. wind — moving air
  8. bat — the animal
  9. net — in sport
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. snap — to click
  12. squash — the sport
  13. craft — a skill
  14. squash — to crush
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. net — for catching
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. wind — moving air
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. craft — boats
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. row — a line
  23. row — to paddle
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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