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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bass — the fish
  4. pop — to visit
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. bulb — for light
  7. net — in sport
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. pop — music
  10. bulb — for light
  11. branch — a division
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. bass — low music
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. tear — from crying
  17. scale — size or range
  18. scale — in music
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. pop — soda
  21. tear — to rip
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. shower — rain
  24. net — for catching

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