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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. net — after costs
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. branch — a division
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. object — an aim
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. march — the month
  11. object — a thing
  12. net — for catching
  13. cold — not warm
  14. net — in sport
  15. march — music
  16. cold — an illness
  17. band — a music group
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. object — to protest
  20. band — a ring
  21. march — the month
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. saw — the tool
  24. jam — a tight spot

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