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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: saw · snap · net · tear · racket · squash

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. net — after costs
  3. squash — to crush
  4. saw — the tool
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. tear — to rip
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. tear — from crying
  12. net — in sport
  13. saw — the tool
  14. snap — to click
  15. squash — the sport
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. net — for catching
  18. snap — to speak sharply

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