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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. wound — an injury
  3. land — ground
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. file — a document
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. branch — a division
  10. chest — of your body
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. chest — of your body
  13. file — a tool
  14. chest — a box
  15. stand — to bear
  16. land — to come down
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. land — a country
  21. file — a line of people
  22. wound — an injury
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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