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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. content — happy
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. content — the amount
  6. net — for catching
  7. pit — in a race
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. net — after costs
  10. chip — to eat
  11. game — wild animals
  12. net — in sport
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. chip — for betting
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. stem — to come from
  22. game — a match
  23. bat — the animal
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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