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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. bat — the animal
  3. mark — a trace
  4. net — after costs
  5. branch — a division
  6. net — in sport
  7. root — the cause
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. net — for catching
  10. content — happy
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. band — a ring
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. band — a music group
  15. root — of a plant
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. root — of a word
  19. content — the amount
  20. mark — a grade
  21. file — a document
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. file — a line of people
  24. bat — in an idiom

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