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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. wind — moving air
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. net — in sport
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — to cut
  9. content — happy
  10. clip — for paper
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. deal — to handle
  13. net — for catching
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. content — the amount
  17. vault — a safe
  18. wind — moving air

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