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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. squash — the sport
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. net — for catching
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. rash — a series
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. net — in sport
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. rash — hasty
  16. cold — not warm
  17. sharp — clever
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. squash — to crush
  22. perch — the fish
  23. net — after costs
  24. mouse — the animal

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