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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. cell — a phone
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — after costs
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. deal — to handle
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. content — happy
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. land — to come down
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. land — ground
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. net — for catching
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. cell — in biology
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. content — the amount
  24. land — a country

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