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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 president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. net — in sport
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. net — after costs
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. game — a match
  8. root — of a plant
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. snap — to click
  11. root — the cause
  12. sharp — clever
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. root — of a word
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. wind — moving air
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. wind — moving air
  21. squash — the sport
  22. net — for catching
  23. game — wild animals
  24. wind — to turn a key

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