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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. game — a match
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. rash — a series
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. net — for catching
  9. content — happy
  10. game — wild animals
  11. net — after costs
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. current — of water
  14. rule — a law
  15. content — the amount
  16. net — in sport
  17. bark — to shout
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. current — electric
  21. current — happening now
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. rule — government
  24. game — a kind of play

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