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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 124 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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. land — ground
  3. wind — moving air
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. track — a path
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. track — to keep track
  8. land — a country
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. kid — child
  11. track — a song
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. wax — to grow
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. branch — a division
  17. chip — for betting
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. wind — moving air
  21. land — to come down
  22. kid — to tease
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — of a bank

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