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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. net — after costs
  3. clip — a video
  4. content — happy
  5. content — the amount
  6. key — in music
  7. club — for dancing
  8. chest — of your body
  9. net — for catching
  10. key — the most important part
  11. craft — boats
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. clip — to cut
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. chest — of your body
  17. key — for a lock
  18. net — in sport
  19. craft — a skill
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. chest — a box
  22. club — for golf
  23. club — a group
  24. clip — for paper

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