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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. Did you ________________ the button?
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. press — to push
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. net — for catching
  5. kick — in football
  6. race — a contest
  7. swing — music
  8. race — humankind
  9. branch — a division
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. net — after costs
  12. roll — a cake
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. rest — what's left
  15. net — in sport
  16. race — the arms race
  17. press — newspapers
  18. roll — a list
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. rest — what's left
  21. swing — to play on
  22. press — a publisher
  23. swing — in golf
  24. rest — a break

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