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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. vault — a safe
  3. wound — an injury
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. game — wild animals
  6. lean — to bend
  7. net — in sport
  8. lean — thin
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. game — a match
  11. net — for catching
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. press — newspapers
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. wind — moving air
  16. press — a publisher
  17. content — the amount
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. net — after costs
  20. wind — moving air
  21. content — happy
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. press — to push
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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