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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. bear — the animal
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. net — after costs
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. branch — a division
  9. net — in sport
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. cell — a phone
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. bear — the animal
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. bat — the animal
  18. cell — in biology

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