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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. net — in sport
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. tear — to rip
  6. bound — obliged
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. game — wild animals
  9. tear — from crying
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. bound — tied together
  13. bound — certain
  14. wind — moving air
  15. net — for catching
  16. wind — moving air
  17. tear — from crying
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. game — a match
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — not warm
  22. branch — a division
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. net — after costs

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