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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: land · chair · rush · craft · net · date · cue · content

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. net — for catching
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. land — ground
  7. cue — a signal
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. land — a country
  11. cue — for pool
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. content — the amount
  14. craft — boats
  15. land — to come down
  16. rush — hurry
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. net — after costs
  19. date — the fruit
  20. craft — a skill
  21. net — in sport
  22. content — happy
  23. chair — a leader
  24. craft — a handicraft

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