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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. mate — a partner
  3. net — after costs
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rash — a series
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. net — for catching
  9. tube — the underground
  10. net — in sport
  11. press — a publisher
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. press — newspapers
  14. mate — a friend
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. rash — hasty
  17. press — to push
  18. content — happy
  19. wound — an injury
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. content — the amount
  22. tube — a container
  23. mate — to breed
  24. wound — an injury

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