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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 120 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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. net — in sport
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. net — after costs
  7. mate — a partner
  8. content — the amount
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. branch — a division
  12. content — happy
  13. chest — a box
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. sharp — clever
  18. mate — to breed
  19. chest — of your body
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. chest — of your body
  22. net — for catching
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. sharp — with an edge

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