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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. fall — to drop
  4. wound — an injury
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. mine — for digging
  7. file — a line of people
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. band — a ring
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. fall — to drop
  13. branch — a division
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. file — a document
  17. wound — an injury
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. band — a music group
  22. file — a tool
  23. cabinet — ministers
  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