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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. row — to paddle
  3. net — in sport
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. net — for catching
  6. net — after costs
  7. press — newspapers
  8. press — to push
  9. branch — a division
  10. lean — thin
  11. cold — an illness
  12. land — to come down
  13. land — ground
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. land — a country
  19. press — a publisher
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. lean — to bend
  22. cold — not warm
  23. row — a line
  24. kick — in football

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