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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. net — for catching
  4. net — in sport
  5. chest — a box
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. hand — in cards
  8. chest — of your body
  9. foot — a measure
  10. tube — the underground
  11. rule — a law
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. hand — help
  16. content — happy
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. content — the amount
  19. chest — of your body
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. rule — government
  24. tube — a container

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