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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. bore — to tire
  3. content — the amount
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. cold — not warm
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. net — in sport
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. cold — an illness
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. stock — shares
  14. row — to paddle
  15. content — happy
  16. bore — to drill
  17. dip — to sink
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. row — a line
  20. net — after costs
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. stock — goods
  24. content — videos and posts

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