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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 120 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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. net — after costs
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. net — in sport
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. lean — to bend
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. content — the amount
  9. content — happy
  10. ground — the earth
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. swing — in golf
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. ground — crushed
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. swing — to play on
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. ground — a position
  23. net — for catching
  24. swing — music

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