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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. charge — a price
  3. race — humankind
  4. net — in sport
  5. wound — an injury
  6. content — the amount
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. craft — a skill
  9. craft — boats
  10. bank — for money
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. degree — from a university
  13. charge — in control
  14. charge — electricity
  15. race — a contest
  16. net — after costs
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. race — the arms race
  19. degree — an amount
  20. bank — for money
  21. net — for catching
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bank — of a river
  24. wound — an injury

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