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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. net — after costs
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. swing — music
  5. net — in sport
  6. fall — the season
  7. bat — the animal
  8. net — for catching
  9. swing — in golf
  10. fall — to drop
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. saw — the tool
  15. march — music
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. swing — to play on
  19. saw — the tool
  20. march — the month
  21. march — the month
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — help
  24. fall — to drop

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