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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  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. club — for golf
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. net — after costs
  4. club — for dancing
  5. season — of the year
  6. branch — a division
  7. pitch — completely
  8. chair — a leader
  9. ground — the earth
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. club — a group
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. net — in sport
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. season — in sport
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. bat — the animal
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. ground — crushed
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. ground — a position
  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