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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. content — the amount
  7. track — to keep track
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. content — happy
  10. court — of law
  11. cell — in biology
  12. net — after costs
  13. cell — a phone
  14. wound — an injury
  15. net — in sport
  16. court — for sport
  17. net — for catching
  18. track — a song
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. court — of a king
  22. wound — an injury
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. track — a path

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