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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. net — after costs
  4. mate — a partner
  5. field — farmland
  6. mate — to breed
  7. fall — to drop
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. field — a subject
  10. spell — magic
  11. net — in sport
  12. scale — in music
  13. fall — to drop
  14. scale — size or range
  15. net — for catching
  16. fall — the season
  17. mate — a friend
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. branch — a division
  22. spell — a short time
  23. field — for sport
  24. deal — to handle

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