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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: foot · squash · bear · file · land · roll · net · spell

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. net — after costs
  3. land — a country
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. land — ground
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. file — a tool
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. spell — magic
  10. squash — the sport
  11. bear — the animal
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. spell — a short time
  14. roll — a cake
  15. net — for catching
  16. roll — a list
  17. file — a line of people
  18. squash — to crush
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. land — to come down
  21. file — a document
  22. bear — the animal
  23. foot — a measure
  24. spell — letters

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