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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. file — a tool
  3. net — after costs
  4. kid — to tease
  5. rest — what's left
  6. vault — a safe
  7. rash — hasty
  8. rash — a series
  9. file — a line of people
  10. content — the amount
  11. game — a match
  12. game — wild animals
  13. kid — child
  14. file — a document
  15. rest — a break
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. content — happy
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. rest — what's left
  23. net — for catching
  24. net — in sport

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