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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. net — after costs
  4. wound — an injury
  5. content — the amount
  6. content — happy
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. kid — to tease
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. game — wild animals
  11. cell — in biology
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. cell — a phone
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. fine — all right
  18. wound — an injury
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. net — in sport
  21. net — for catching
  22. fine — high quality
  23. kid — child
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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