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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. net — for catching
  4. net — in sport
  5. plane — a tool
  6. swing — to play on
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. net — after costs
  12. swing — in golf
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. content — the amount
  19. rash — a series
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. pitch — completely
  22. swing — music
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. rash — hasty

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