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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. land — a country
  3. swing — music
  4. wound — an injury
  5. present — a gift
  6. bank — for money
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. swing — to play on
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. present — the time now
  12. bank — of a river
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. hand — in cards
  15. land — ground
  16. sharp — clever
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. present — there
  20. land — to come down
  21. swing — in golf
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. bank — for money
  24. wound — an injury

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