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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 116 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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. face — to confront
  3. net — for catching
  4. cue — a signal
  5. net — after costs
  6. cue — a hint
  7. band — a ring
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. face — to point toward
  11. face — part of the head
  12. cue — for pool
  13. march — the month
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. march — music
  17. branch — a division
  18. band — a music group
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. mine — for digging
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. content — happy
  23. content — the amount
  24. march — the month

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