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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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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: bat · face · swing · snap · content · net · ground · lean

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. net — in sport
  6. face — part of the head
  7. lean — to bend
  8. swing — to play on
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — music
  11. lean — thin
  12. bat — the animal
  13. ground — the earth
  14. net — for catching
  15. content — the amount
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. face — to confront
  18. net — after costs
  19. ground — crushed
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. snap — to click
  22. face — to point toward
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. ground — a position

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