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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. land — ground
  3. net — for catching
  4. land — a country
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. branch — a division
  7. bear — the animal
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — for paper
  12. mine — for digging
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. present — a gift
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. clip — a video
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. net — in sport
  19. bear — the animal
  20. present — there
  21. present — the time now
  22. net — after costs
  23. fork — in a road
  24. land — to come down

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