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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. content — happy
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. net — in sport
  7. rush — hurry
  8. content — the amount
  9. hand — help
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. net — for catching
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. net — after costs
  15. mine — for digging
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. hand — in cards
  21. perch — the fish
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. pass — a permit
  24. mine — an explosive

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