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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: file · calf · rash · present · net · saw · content · chest

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. net — in sport
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. content — the amount
  5. rash — hasty
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. present — a gift
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. chest — of your body
  11. file — a line of people
  12. net — after costs
  13. present — there
  14. net — for catching
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — the tool
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. chest — a box
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. present — the time now
  21. file — a tool
  22. rash — a series
  23. file — a document
  24. chest — of your body

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