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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. ball — a dance
  3. branch — a division
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. mark — a grade
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — the season
  8. bat — the animal
  9. capital — a city
  10. net — in sport
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. spring — of water
  19. ball — a great time
  20. capital — money
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. net — after costs
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. mark — a trace

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