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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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. net — after costs
  3. cold — an illness
  4. net — for catching
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. wind — moving air
  7. chair — a leader
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. saw — the tool
  10. content — the amount
  11. net — in sport
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. saw — the tool
  14. cold — not warm
  15. rock — music
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. lean — thin
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. content — happy
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. lean — to bend
  23. wind — moving air
  24. rock — a stone

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