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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. club — for dancing
  3. branch — a division
  4. last — final
  5. tear — from crying
  6. spring — the season
  7. club — a group
  8. net — after costs
  9. spring — of water
  10. club — for golf
  11. cap — of ice
  12. tear — to rip
  13. drill — the tool
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. cap — a lid
  17. tear — from crying
  18. last — to go on
  19. net — for catching
  20. drill — army training
  21. net — in sport
  22. cap — a hat
  23. drill — a practice
  24. spring — a coil

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