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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 116 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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  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. content — happy
  2. pit — a hole
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — for digging
  5. rule — a law
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. hand — in cards
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. net — after costs
  10. deal — to handle
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — the amount
  15. hand — help
  16. press — to push
  17. net — in sport
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. net — for catching
  20. press — newspapers
  21. rule — government
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. press — a publisher
  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