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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. land — ground
  3. land — to come down
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. march — the month
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. spring — a coil
  8. row — to paddle
  9. spring — the season
  10. march — music
  11. march — the month
  12. land — a country
  13. branch — a division
  14. spring — of water
  15. ground — the earth
  16. ground — crushed
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. row — a line
  21. ground — a position
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. pound — a weight
  24. row — a quarrel

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