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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. content — happy
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. net — in sport
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. content — the amount
  7. rash — hasty
  8. lie — to recline
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to click
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. rest — what's left
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. rest — a break
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. rest — what's left
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. kick — in football
  20. net — for catching
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. rash — a series
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. 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