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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. net — after costs
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. clip — a video
  7. content — the amount
  8. content — happy
  9. board — to get on
  10. pit — a hole
  11. board — a committee
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — in sport
  15. clip — for paper
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — the season
  18. dip — to sink
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. clip — to cut
  22. foot — a measure
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. pit — in a race

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