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

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. net — after costs
  3. wake — a trail
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. net — for catching
  6. sharp — clever
  7. net — in sport
  8. face — to point toward
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. content — the amount
  14. content — happy
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. face — to confront
  17. cell — in biology
  18. sharp — exactly

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