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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. net — after costs
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. kick — in football
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. clip — a video
  8. degree — an amount
  9. net — for catching
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. branch — a division
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — for paper
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. snap — to click
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. kick — with a leg

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