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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. branch — a division
  5. land — a country
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. drill — army training
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. sharp — clever
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. land — to come down
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. stand — to bear
  14. drill — the tool
  15. last — to go on
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. cell — a phone
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. drill — a practice
  21. last — finally
  22. cell — in biology
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. last — final

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