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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 120 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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. net — after costs
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. bat — the animal
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. field — for sport
  7. field — a subject
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. rush — hurry
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. net — for catching
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. squash — the sport
  18. net — in sport
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. squash — to crush
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. spell — magic
  23. field — farmland
  24. spell — letters

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