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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 116 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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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: tear · rock · rest · stick · bat · content · net · squash

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. tear — to rip
  3. net — in sport
  4. rock — a stone
  5. net — for catching
  6. net — after costs
  7. rest — what's left
  8. tear — from crying
  9. rest — a break
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. content — happy
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. rock — music
  17. content — the amount
  18. rest — what's left
  19. squash — the sport
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. tear — from crying
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. content — videos and posts

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