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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. hand — in cards
  3. net — for catching
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. net — in sport
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. net — after costs
  8. content — the amount
  9. bark — to shout
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. spell — a short time
  12. spell — magic
  13. chip — to eat
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. hand — help
  16. chip — for betting
  17. content — happy
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. spell — letters
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. sharp — with an edge

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