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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: snap · chest · court · race · mark · content · net · wound

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. content — the amount
  3. mark — a grade
  4. mark — a trace
  5. net — for catching
  6. chest — of your body
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. court — of law
  10. net — in sport
  11. content — happy
  12. wound — an injury
  13. net — after costs
  14. court — of a king
  15. court — for sport
  16. chest — a box
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — humankind
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. chest — of your body
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. snap — to click
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. race — the arms race

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