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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 116 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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. branch — a division
  3. land — a country
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. march — music
  10. spring — the season
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. march — the month
  13. bear — the animal
  14. march — the month
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. land — ground
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. land — to come down
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. stand — to bear
  21. spring — of water
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. bear — the animal

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