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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. bear — the animal
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. net — for catching
  5. hand — in cards
  6. spring — the season
  7. prune — to trim
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. prune — to trim
  10. net — after costs
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. branch — a division
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. net — in sport
  17. spring — of water
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — help
  21. bear — the animal
  22. chair — a leader
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. jam — in traffic

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