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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. hand — help
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. game — wild animals
  6. last — to go on
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. net — for catching
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. content — the amount
  13. net — in sport
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. game — a match
  16. last — finally
  17. fork — in a road
  18. kick — in football
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. last — final
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. net — after costs
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. content — happy

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