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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 120 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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  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. content — videos and posts
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. rash — hasty
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. wound — an injury
  6. net — for catching
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. hand — help
  9. net — after costs
  10. prune — to trim
  11. content — the amount
  12. hand — in cards
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. wound — an injury
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. net — in sport
  18. snap — to click
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. prune — to trim
  23. rash — a series
  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