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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. net — after costs
  3. press — to push
  4. branch — a division
  5. lean — to bend
  6. last — final
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. race — a contest
  9. press — a publisher
  10. drill — army training
  11. net — for catching
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. roll — a cake
  15. last — to go on
  16. lean — thin
  17. last — finally
  18. drill — a practice
  19. drill — the tool
  20. roll — a list
  21. race — the arms race
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. race — humankind
  24. press — newspapers

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