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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. shower — rain
  3. kid — to tease
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. field — farmland
  6. kid — child
  7. shower — to wash
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. mark — a trace
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. branch — a division
  13. mark — a grade
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. field — for sport
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. net — for catching
  20. field — a subject
  21. net — in sport
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. rush — hurry
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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