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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 still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. track — a path
  3. pound — a weight
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. track — to keep track
  8. court — for sport
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. branch — a division
  11. vault — a safe
  12. track — a song
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. land — ground
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. land — to come down
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. court — of law
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. court — of a king
  21. mine — for digging
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. land — a country
  24. band — a music group

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