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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. date — the fruit
  6. root — the cause
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. root — of a word
  9. tear — from crying
  10. net — in sport
  11. tear — to rip
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. net — for catching
  14. branch — a division
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. tear — from crying
  18. lean — to bend
  19. shower — to wash
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. root — of a plant
  22. shower — rain
  23. lean — thin
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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