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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. content — happy
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. content — the amount
  7. prune — to trim
  8. scale — in music
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. net — after costs
  12. prune — to trim
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. chest — of your body
  16. lean — thin
  17. net — for catching
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chest — a box
  21. lean — to bend
  22. bark — to shout
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. scale — size or range

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