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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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Word bank
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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: hand · squash · current · pitcher · stem · wind · net · land

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. squash — to crush
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — ground
  6. squash — the sport
  7. net — after costs
  8. current — electric
  9. land — a country
  10. net — for catching
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. current — happening now
  15. stem — to come from
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — help
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. net — in sport
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. current — of water

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