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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. club — for golf
  3. field — a subject
  4. snap — to click
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. rush — hurry
  9. club — a group
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — to drop
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — farmland
  14. branch — a division
  15. club — for dancing
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. net — in sport
  18. season — of the year
  19. fall — the season
  20. season — in sport
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. net — for catching
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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