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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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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: bound · squash · net · cold · wake · spell · shower · foot

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. squash — the sport
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. spell — letters
  7. wake — a trail
  8. cold — not warm
  9. net — for catching
  10. shower — rain
  11. bound — tied together
  12. spell — magic
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. spell — a short time
  15. bound — certain
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. squash — to crush
  18. shower — to wash
  19. net — in sport
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bound — obliged
  22. cold — an illness
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. foot — a measure

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