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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. net — for catching
  4. press — to push
  5. object — to protest
  6. hand — help
  7. press — a publisher
  8. content — the amount
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. press — newspapers
  11. last — finally
  12. content — happy
  13. net — in sport
  14. last — final
  15. chest — of your body
  16. last — to go on
  17. object — a thing
  18. chest — of your body
  19. hand — in cards
  20. object — an aim
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. chest — a box
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. content — videos and posts

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