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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: cold · roll · net · mug · content · kick · land · band

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. net — for catching
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. mug — to rob
  6. land — a country
  7. land — ground
  8. band — a ring
  9. land — to come down
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. band — a music group
  12. kick — in football
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. net — in sport
  15. roll — a list
  16. mug — a cup
  17. content — happy
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — an illness
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. roll — a cake
  22. mug — a face
  23. content — the amount
  24. cold — not warm

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