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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. squash — to crush
  3. net — after costs
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. clip — to cut
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rush — hurry
  8. wake — a trail
  9. mate — a friend
  10. net — for catching
  11. clip — a video
  12. rock — a stone
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. mate — to breed
  15. net — in sport
  16. clip — for paper
  17. wound — an injury
  18. rock — music
  19. mate — a partner
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. squash — the sport
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. squash — the vegetable

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