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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 120 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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. net — for catching
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. degree — an amount
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. chip — to eat
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. degree — from a university
  10. kid — to tease
  11. game — wild animals
  12. net — in sport
  13. chip — for betting
  14. kid — child
  15. game — a match
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. content — happy
  18. face — part of the head
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. face — to confront
  22. face — to point toward
  23. degree — temperature
  24. content — the amount

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