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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — in sport
  4. scale — in music
  5. net — for catching
  6. race — humankind
  7. content — happy
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. track — a path
  12. race — the arms race
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. mark — a grade
  15. track — to keep track
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. track — a song
  18. scale — size or range
  19. content — the amount
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. race — a contest
  23. bat — the animal
  24. mark — a trace

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