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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. cell — a phone
  3. perch — the fish
  4. lean — thin
  5. race — humankind
  6. branch — a division
  7. spell — letters
  8. race — a contest
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. swing — in golf
  13. race — the arms race
  14. swing — to play on
  15. spell — magic
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. cell — in biology
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. swing — music
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. spell — a short time
  24. lean — to bend

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