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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. staff — employees
  3. net — for catching
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. content — happy
  6. face — to point toward
  7. content — the amount
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bark — to shout
  11. game — wild animals
  12. staff — a stick
  13. staff — employees
  14. game — a match
  15. band — a music group
  16. face — to confront
  17. band — a ring
  18. wax — to grow
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. net — after costs
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. face — part of the head
  24. bark — of a tree

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