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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 116 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 chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. net — in sport
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. row — a line
  5. row — to paddle
  6. cap — a lid
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. cap — a hat
  10. squash — the sport
  11. cap — of ice
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. squash — to crush
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. snap — to click
  16. hand — help
  17. hand — in cards
  18. net — after costs
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. wake — a trail
  23. kid — to tease
  24. net — for catching

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