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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: fork · rash · net · squash · pitcher · leaves · race · land

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. land — a country
  5. race — humankind
  6. land — ground
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. squash — the sport
  9. rash — hasty
  10. net — for catching
  11. rash — a series
  12. race — a contest
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — in a road
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. net — in sport
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. squash — to crush
  21. land — to come down
  22. net — after costs
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. race — the arms race

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