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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. net — after costs
  4. wake — a trail
  5. content — the amount
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a document
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. rule — government
  14. net — for catching
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. net — in sport
  17. rule — a law
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. pass — a permit
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. content — happy
  24. pitcher — a jug

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