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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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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: race · content · craft · stick · date · snap · face · net

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. net — after costs
  3. face — part of the head
  4. content — the amount
  5. face — to point toward
  6. craft — boats
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. race — humankind
  9. net — for catching
  10. net — in sport
  11. content — happy
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. snap — to click
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. race — the arms race
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. face — to confront
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. craft — a skill
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. date — the fruit

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