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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. mate — a friend
  3. net — for catching
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wind — moving air
  7. net — in sport
  8. cap — a hat
  9. cap — of ice
  10. field — for sport
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wound — an injury
  13. branch — a division
  14. net — after costs
  15. field — farmland
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. spell — magic
  18. wound — an injury
  19. spell — letters
  20. field — a subject
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. mate — to breed
  23. mate — a partner
  24. spell — a short time

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