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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. track — a path
  3. chip — to eat
  4. press — to push
  5. scale — in music
  6. track — to keep track
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. branch — a division
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. chip — for betting
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. track — a song
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. hand — in cards
  17. press — newspapers
  18. hand — help
  19. press — a publisher
  20. bark — to shout
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. scale — size or range
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — for digging

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