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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. spring — a coil
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. net — in sport
  5. branch — a division
  6. rule — a law
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. bound — certain
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. scale — in music
  11. spring — the season
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. bound — tied together
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. bound — obliged
  18. rule — government
  19. spring — of water
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. scale — size or range
  23. net — for catching
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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