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

Word bank: bark · chest · content · deal · kid · fan · net · snap

  1. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. net — for catching
  6. net — in sport
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. chest — of your body
  9. snap — to click
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. bark — to shout
  13. content — the amount
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. kid — child
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — to tease
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. content — happy
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. net — after costs
  24. chest — a box

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