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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 116 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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. vault — a safe
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. kid — to tease
  10. press — to push
  11. net — for catching
  12. net — after costs
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. press — newspapers
  16. press — a publisher
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. kid — child
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. content — happy
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. content — the amount

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