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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 120 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

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

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. fork — in a road
  4. mine — for digging
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. wound — an injury
  8. branch — a division
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. root — of a word
  15. root — of a plant
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. wound — an injury
  18. root — the cause

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