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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 took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. branch — a division
  6. foot — a measure
  7. race — the arms race
  8. last — final
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — finally
  12. race — humankind
  13. content — happy
  14. net — in sport
  15. net — after costs
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. bat — the animal
  19. pitch — completely
  20. race — a contest
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. content — the amount
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. content — videos and posts

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