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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. hand — help
  3. land — ground
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. rock — a stone
  6. land — a country
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. mate — to breed
  10. mate — a partner
  11. branch — a division
  12. mate — a friend
  13. hand — in cards
  14. wax — to grow
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. land — to come down
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. cap — of ice
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. cap — a hat
  22. cap — a lid
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. rock — to move gently

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