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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. rash — hasty
  3. board — to get on
  4. chest — of your body
  5. net — after costs
  6. hand — help
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. net — for catching
  10. content — happy
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. branch — a division
  14. net — in sport
  15. content — the amount
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. board — a committee
  18. hand — in cards
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. rash — a series
  24. arm — part of the body

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