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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. game — wild animals
  3. kick — in football
  4. net — after costs
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. land — a country
  8. rest — a break
  9. content — happy
  10. rest — what's left
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. content — the amount
  13. game — a match
  14. net — for catching
  15. land — ground
  16. net — in sport
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. rest — what's left

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