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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. net — after costs
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. bound — tied together
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. court — of law
  8. content — happy
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. game — wild animals
  12. court — for sport
  13. branch — a division
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. court — of a king
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. content — the amount
  18. game — a match
  19. bound — obliged
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. net — in sport
  22. bound — certain
  23. pass — a permit
  24. net — for catching

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