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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 116 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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. branch — a division
  3. court — for sport
  4. lean — thin
  5. dip — to sink
  6. shower — to wash
  7. plane — a tool
  8. lean — to bend
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. root — of a plant
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. court — of law
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. court — of a king
  16. net — in sport
  17. root — the cause
  18. shower — rain
  19. root — of a word
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. net — for catching

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