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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: trunk · net · saw · pitcher · cold · branch · ball · present

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. net — after costs
  3. net — for catching
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. cold — not warm
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. ball — a dance
  8. present — there
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. present — a gift
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. present — the time now
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. saw — the tool
  16. branch — a division
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. saw — the tool
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. net — in sport
  21. cold — an illness
  22. ball — a great time
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cold — the Cold War

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