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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. file — a tool
  3. mate — to breed
  4. club — a group
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. mate — a friend
  7. net — in sport
  8. file — a document
  9. net — after costs
  10. net — for catching
  11. mate — a partner
  12. suit — to fit
  13. spring — of water
  14. suit — clothes
  15. club — for dancing
  16. club — for golf
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — a coil
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. branch — a division
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. suit — in cards
  23. hand — in cards
  24. file — a line of people

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