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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. content — the amount
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. net — in sport
  5. ball — a great time
  6. hand — in cards
  7. file — a tool
  8. file — a document
  9. kick — in football
  10. file — a line of people
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. ball — a dance
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. net — for catching
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. content — happy
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. hand — help
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. stand — to bear

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