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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. land — ground
  3. bass — low music
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. mate — a partner
  6. kid — to tease
  7. branch — a division
  8. shower — to wash
  9. bear — the animal
  10. mate — to breed
  11. land — a country
  12. bass — the fish
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. net — in sport
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. net — for catching
  17. shower — rain
  18. mate — a friend
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. net — after costs
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. kid — child
  23. land — to come down
  24. branch — of a tree

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