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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. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. net — for catching
  3. net — after costs
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. squash — the sport
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. snap — to click
  10. squash — to crush
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. clip — a video
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. court — for sport
  15. clip — for paper
  16. chest — a box
  17. lean — to bend
  18. chest — of your body
  19. lean — thin
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — of law
  22. clip — to cut
  23. chest — of your body
  24. net — in sport

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