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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — for catching
  4. court — of law
  5. present — there
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. last — final
  8. file — a tool
  9. hand — in cards
  10. band — a music group
  11. present — a gift
  12. court — of a king
  13. file — a document
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. net — in sport
  16. hand — help
  17. file — a line of people
  18. present — the time now
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. band — a ring
  21. last — finally
  22. last — to go on
  23. court — for sport
  24. hand — part of the body

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