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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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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. game — a match
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fall — the season
  5. cue — a signal
  6. game — wild animals
  7. net — in sport
  8. ball — a dance
  9. ball — a great time
  10. content — the amount
  11. net — for catching
  12. cue — a hint
  13. cue — for pool
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. fall — to drop
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. net — after costs

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