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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. chest — of your body
  3. current — of water
  4. foot — a measure
  5. net — in sport
  6. net — for catching
  7. net — after costs
  8. board — a committee
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. spring — a coil
  11. current — happening now
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. spring — of water
  17. current — electric
  18. board — to get on
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. spring — the season
  22. content — the amount
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. nail — for a hammer

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