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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. content — the amount
  3. net — for catching
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. tear — from crying
  6. race — humankind
  7. snap — to click
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. tear — to rip
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. fine — high quality
  15. tear — from crying
  16. net — in sport
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. race — a contest
  20. fine — all right
  21. content — happy
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. race — the arms race
  24. sharp — clever

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