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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: game · court · branch · net · mine · tube

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. tube — the underground
  4. court — for sport
  5. mine — for digging
  6. net — in sport
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. net — for catching
  9. branch — a division
  10. court — of law
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. net — after costs
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. tube — a container
  15. game — wild animals
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. court — of a king
  18. mine — an explosive

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