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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. mine — for digging
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kid — child
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. kick — in football
  8. branch — a division
  9. scale — in music
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. press — newspapers
  14. wax — to grow
  15. press — to push
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. press — a publisher
  21. scale — size or range
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. fork — in a road

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