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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. band — a music group
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. pass — a permit
  5. mate — a friend
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. net — in sport
  8. mate — to breed
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. field — for sport
  11. band — a ring
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. net — for catching
  14. field — farmland
  15. branch — a division
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. mate — a partner
  20. rule — government
  21. rule — a law
  22. snap — to click
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. field — a subject

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