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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. saw — the tool
  3. sharp — clever
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. court — for sport
  8. race — the arms race
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. saw — the tool
  11. court — of a king
  12. pitch — completely
  13. branch — a division
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. net — for catching
  16. net — in sport
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cell — a phone
  20. net — after costs
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. race — a contest
  23. court — of law
  24. race — humankind

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