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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: net · branch · cold · game · tear · date · land · arm

  1. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — a match
  5. cold — not warm
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cold — an illness
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. branch — a division
  11. land — ground
  12. land — to come down
  13. land — a country
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. date — the fruit
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — to rip
  20. net — after costs
  21. net — for catching
  22. game — wild animals
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. branch — of a tree

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