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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bat — the animal
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. file — a tool
  6. net — for catching
  7. court — for sport
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. pit — a hole
  10. court — of a king
  11. pit — in a race
  12. court — of law
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. net — in sport
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. file — a line of people
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. pitch — completely
  20. file — a document
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. branch — a division
  24. net — after costs

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