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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. rash — a series
  3. net — after costs
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — the tool
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. net — in sport
  10. content — the amount
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. net — for catching
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. content — happy
  20. kid — child
  21. kid — to tease
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. rash — hasty

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