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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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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: track · content · net · bat · last · wound · racket · fork

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. last — to go on
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. net — for catching
  5. track — a path
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. content — happy
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. content — the amount
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bat — the animal
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. wound — an injury
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. fork — in a road
  18. last — final
  19. net — in sport
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. track — a song
  23. track — to keep track
  24. last — finally

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