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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. net — in sport
  3. ball — a dance
  4. bat — the animal
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. branch — a division
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. net — after costs
  11. ball — a great time
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. net — for catching
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. game — a match

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