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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. net — for catching
  3. squash — to crush
  4. squash — the sport
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wind — moving air
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. chest — a box
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. deal — to handle
  14. season — in sport
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. chest — of your body
  17. net — in sport
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. hand — in cards
  20. chest — of your body
  21. season — of the year
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. net — after costs
  24. hand — help

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