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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. ball — a dance
  3. ball — a great time
  4. branch — a division
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. chest — of your body
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. chest — a box
  9. mate — a partner
  10. mate — a friend
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. pop — to visit
  13. pop — music
  14. deal — to handle
  15. pop — soda
  16. net — for catching
  17. net — in sport
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. chest — of your body
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. mate — to breed
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. shower — rain
  24. net — after costs

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