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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. net — for catching
  3. fall — the season
  4. net — after costs
  5. branch — a division
  6. wind — moving air
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. fall — to drop
  9. wound — an injury
  10. net — in sport
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. rash — a series
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. face — to point toward
  15. tube — a container
  16. face — to confront
  17. wind — moving air
  18. tube — the underground
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. face — part of the head
  21. fall — to drop
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. wound — an injury

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