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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: bat · cold · net · suit · pop · current · bass · branch

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. branch — a division
  4. suit — clothes
  5. bat — the animal
  6. current — happening now
  7. current — of water
  8. pop — soda
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. net — in sport
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bass — low music
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. cold — an illness
  16. pop — to visit
  17. bass — the fish
  18. cold — not warm
  19. net — for catching
  20. current — electric
  21. suit — in cards
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. pop — music
  24. suit — to fit

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