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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. branch — a division
  4. present — a gift
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. club — a group
  7. chest — of your body
  8. plane — a tool
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. club — for golf
  11. present — the time now
  12. present — there
  13. chest — a box
  14. clip — a video
  15. club — for dancing
  16. clip — for paper
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. clip — to cut
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. chest — of your body
  23. mine — for digging
  24. game — a match

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