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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bat — the animal
  3. net — in sport
  4. wind — moving air
  5. content — the amount
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. content — happy
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. wind — moving air
  11. foot — a measure
  12. net — for catching
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. mark — a grade
  15. pass — a permit
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. shower — to wash
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. shower — rain
  23. mark — a trace
  24. content — videos and posts

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