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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. charge — a price
  4. wound — an injury
  5. charge — electricity
  6. charge — in control
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. mate — to breed
  11. bass — low music
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. game — a match
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. branch — a division
  17. wound — an injury
  18. mate — a partner
  19. bass — the fish
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. mate — a friend
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — of a bank

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