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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. branch — a division
  3. row — to paddle
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. march — the month
  6. land — ground
  7. scale — in music
  8. snap — to click
  9. march — the month
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. wound — an injury
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. land — to come down
  18. scale — size or range
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. wound — an injury
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. land — a country
  23. pound — a weight
  24. march — music

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