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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. sharp — clever
  3. net — in sport
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. branch — a division
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. content — happy
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. saw — the tool
  10. chair — a leader
  11. content — the amount
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. saw — the tool
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. net — for catching
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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