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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. swing — to play on
  3. drill — army training
  4. sharp — clever
  5. swing — music
  6. fall — to drop
  7. spell — letters
  8. net — after costs
  9. fall — the season
  10. spell — a short time
  11. net — for catching
  12. race — humankind
  13. race — the arms race
  14. spell — magic
  15. race — a contest
  16. swing — in golf
  17. drill — a practice
  18. branch — a division
  19. drill — the tool
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. fall — to drop
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. net — in sport

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