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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cap — of ice
  5. squash — to crush
  6. roll — a list
  7. wind — moving air
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. cap — a hat
  10. branch — a division
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. tube — a container
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cold — not warm
  18. roll — a cake
  19. net — in sport
  20. wind — moving air
  21. net — for catching
  22. squash — the sport
  23. tube — the underground
  24. squash — the vegetable

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