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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 116 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. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bound — certain
  3. staff — a stick
  4. net — in sport
  5. cap — a hat
  6. bound — tied together
  7. wind — moving air
  8. content — happy
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. bound — obliged
  11. content — the amount
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. net — for catching
  14. dip — to sink
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. cap — of ice
  18. cap — a lid
  19. staff — employees
  20. stem — to come from
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. staff — employees
  24. wind — moving air

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