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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. plane — a tool
  4. net — for catching
  5. chest — of your body
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. net — in sport
  8. content — happy
  9. bat — the animal
  10. content — the amount
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. fork — in a road
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. chest — a box
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. chest — of your body

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