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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: court · net · lean · current · nail · cold · branch · fan

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. court — for sport
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. net — after costs
  8. net — in sport
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. current — of water
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. court — of law
  13. court — of a king
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. lean — thin
  18. current — electric
  19. current — happening now
  20. lean — to bend
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. branch — a division
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — an illness

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