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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. net — after costs
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. mine — for digging
  6. squash — the sport
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. fall — to drop
  9. shower — rain
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. capital — a city
  13. bat — the animal
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. capital — money
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. net — for catching
  18. fall — to drop
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. squash — to crush
  21. net — in sport
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. fall — the season
  24. shower — to wash

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