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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 120 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. branch — a division
  3. key — in music
  4. swing — in golf
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. land — ground
  7. key — the most important part
  8. key — for a lock
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. game — a match
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. snap — to click
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. swing — to play on
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. rush — hurry
  18. swing — music
  19. land — to come down
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. land — a country

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