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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. saw — the tool
  4. branch — a division
  5. current — happening now
  6. wound — an injury
  7. firm — steady
  8. wound — an injury
  9. firm — decided
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. saw — the tool
  13. current — electric
  14. current — of water
  15. swing — music
  16. season — in sport
  17. swing — to play on
  18. file — a tool
  19. season — of the year
  20. file — a line of people
  21. swing — in golf
  22. firm — a company
  23. file — a document
  24. branch — of a tree

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