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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. land — ground
  4. net — after costs
  5. march — the month
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. land — a country
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. prune — to trim
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. net — for catching
  13. prune — to trim
  14. ball — a dance
  15. chair — a leader
  16. ball — a great time
  17. march — the month
  18. branch — a division
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. land — to come down
  22. net — in sport
  23. march — music
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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