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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 King held a masked ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. ground — the earth
  4. ground — crushed
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. bank — for money
  7. branch — a division
  8. bank — of a river
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cold — an illness
  11. net — after costs
  12. net — for catching
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bank — for money
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cold — not warm
  19. ground — a position
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. ball — a great time
  23. wind — moving air
  24. net — in sport

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