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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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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. bore — to tire
  4. root — of a plant
  5. spring — the season
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. net — in sport
  8. track — a path
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. tube — the underground
  11. net — after costs
  12. root — the cause
  13. tube — a container
  14. net — for catching
  15. game — wild animals
  16. spring — a coil
  17. track — a song
  18. bore — to drill
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. root — of a word
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. game — a match
  23. spring — of water
  24. track — to keep track

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