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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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 bank
  3. bound — certain
  4. bound — obliged
  5. net — for catching
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. rule — a law
  8. capital — money
  9. bore — to tire
  10. cold — not warm
  11. tube — the underground
  12. capital — a city
  13. tube — a container
  14. rule — government
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. bound — tied together
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bore — to drill
  19. net — in sport
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. branch — a division
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. capital — a big letter

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