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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: pit · bound · wind · row · saw · net · squash · chest

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. pit — a hole
  5. net — in sport
  6. row — a line
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bound — certain
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — a box
  13. pit — in a race
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. bound — tied together
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. saw — the tool
  18. net — for catching
  19. squash — to crush
  20. bound — obliged
  21. saw — the tool
  22. squash — the sport
  23. row — to paddle
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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