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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 120 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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. land — to come down
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. cell — a phone
  13. hand — in cards
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. chair — a leader
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. land — a country
  20. hand — help
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. cell — in biology
  24. branch — a division

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