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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. He has no idea where the ________________ is.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. hand — help
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. file — a document
  5. roll — a list
  6. file — a tool
  7. net — for catching
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. rash — a series
  12. roll — a cake
  13. rash — hasty
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. file — a line of people
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. hand — in cards
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. branch — a division
  22. net — in sport
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. safe — a strongbox

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