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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. mate — to breed
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. ground — the earth
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. mate — a friend
  7. net — for catching
  8. spring — of water
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. net — after costs
  11. cell — a phone
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. ground — crushed
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. branch — a division
  16. wound — an injury
  17. ground — a position
  18. spring — the season
  19. wound — an injury
  20. mate — a partner
  21. spring — a coil
  22. perch — the fish
  23. cell — in biology
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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