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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — in sport
  4. march — the month
  5. stand — to bear
  6. spring — of water
  7. kick — in football
  8. scale — in music
  9. firm — a company
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. firm — decided
  13. content — the amount
  14. firm — steady
  15. march — the month
  16. march — music
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — a coil
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. scale — size or range
  22. net — for catching
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. scale — for weighing

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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