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

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. net — after costs
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. net — for catching
  5. saw — the tool
  6. branch — a division
  7. saw — the tool
  8. bound — obliged
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. rash — hasty
  12. bound — tied together
  13. net — in sport
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. bound — certain
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. rash — a series
  18. saw — past of 'see'

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