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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. net — in sport
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. pound — a weight
  5. rule — a law
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. staff — employees
  8. net — after costs
  9. branch — a division
  10. rule — government
  11. march — music
  12. net — for catching
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. race — a contest
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. race — humankind
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. march — the month
  21. march — the month
  22. race — the arms race
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. staff — a stick

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