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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 120 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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. rush — hurry
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bass — the fish
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. clip — for paper
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. bass — low music
  13. deal — to handle
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. net — for catching
  16. chest — a box
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. net — after costs
  19. branch — a division
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. clip — a video
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — of your body

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