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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. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. net — after costs
  4. degree — from a university
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a match
  9. net — for catching
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. degree — an amount
  12. ball — a dance
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bass — low music
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bass — the fish
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. ball — a great time
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. branch — a division
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. branch — of a tree

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