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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 120 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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — child
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. land — ground
  7. land — to come down
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — in sport
  10. branch — a division
  11. land — a country
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. wax — to grow
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. leaves — to go away

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