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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. scale — in music
  3. content — happy
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. net — after costs
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. net — in sport
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. sharp — clever
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. net — for catching
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. scale — size or range
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. shower — to wash
  23. shower — rain
  24. calf — a young animal

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