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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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 tree
  3. mate — a friend
  4. mate — to breed
  5. capital — money
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. net — for catching
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. scale — size or range
  11. clip — for paper
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. clip — to cut
  15. mate — a partner
  16. scale — in music
  17. branch — a division
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. capital — a city
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. net — in sport
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. clip — a video

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