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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 broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. fall — the season
  4. chair — a leader
  5. net — for catching
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. fall — to drop
  8. content — the amount
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. net — in sport
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. fall — to drop
  14. net — after costs
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. trunk — of a tree

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