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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: content · chest · cap · net · wind · scale · foot · season

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. net — after costs
  3. cap — a lid
  4. scale — size or range
  5. season — of the year
  6. content — happy
  7. foot — a measure
  8. scale — in music
  9. chest — of your body
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. cap — a hat
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. wind — moving air
  18. net — in sport
  19. chest — a box
  20. content — the amount
  21. season — in sport
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. cap — of ice
  24. wind — moving air

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