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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 116 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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. cold — not warm
  3. net — after costs
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. branch — a division
  7. bass — low music
  8. swing — music
  9. rash — a series
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. swing — in golf
  12. swing — to play on
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. rash — hasty
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pound — a weight
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. bass — the fish
  21. net — in sport
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. net — for catching
  24. rush — to hurry

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