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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. net — in sport
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. wax — to grow
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. perch — the fish
  7. row — to paddle
  8. hand — in cards
  9. hand — help
  10. row — a line
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — happy
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. clip — for paper
  17. net — for catching
  18. clip — to cut
  19. wound — an injury
  20. clip — a video
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. content — the amount
  24. wound — an injury

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