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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: content · net · squash · mark · hand · bat · perch · wound

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. content — the amount
  6. hand — help
  7. net — in sport
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. mark — a trace
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. net — for catching
  12. squash — to crush
  13. wound — an injury
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. net — after costs
  16. squash — the sport
  17. hand — in cards
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. perch — the fish
  20. mark — a grade
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. content — happy

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