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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — in sport
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. tear — to rip
  8. chair — a leader
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. object — an aim
  11. object — a thing
  12. dip — to sink
  13. tear — from crying
  14. wind — moving air
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. capital — money
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. capital — a city
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. tear — from crying
  22. net — for catching
  23. wind — moving air
  24. branch — a division

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