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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. dip — to sink
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. game — wild animals
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. hand — in cards
  9. drill — the tool
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. game — a match
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. key — the most important part
  14. band — a ring
  15. drill — army training
  16. drill — a practice
  17. band — a music group
  18. key — for a lock
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. key — in music
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. perch — the fish
  24. branch — a division

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