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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 116 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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. chair — a leader
  5. key — for a lock
  6. key — in music
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. key — the most important part
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. branch — a division
  13. hand — in cards
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. band — a music group
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. hand — help
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. fork — in a road
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. racket — for tennis

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