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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. net — after costs
  3. field — farmland
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. snap — to click
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. field — for sport
  8. net — in sport
  9. net — for catching
  10. dip — to sink
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. staff — a stick
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. staff — employees
  17. staff — employees
  18. branch — a division
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. field — a subject
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. bat — the animal

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