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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. tear — from crying
  3. last — final
  4. track — a path
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. last — to go on
  8. track — to keep track
  9. court — of law
  10. court — for sport
  11. tear — from crying
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — size or range
  14. last — finally
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. track — a song
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. court — of a king
  19. branch — a division
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. tear — to rip
  24. kick — with a leg

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