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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. net — in sport
  3. net — for catching
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. net — after costs
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. foot — a measure
  18. content — the amount
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. plane — a tool
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. shower — to wash
  24. clip — a video

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