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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. land — a country
  3. wound — an injury
  4. saw — the tool
  5. pop — music
  6. shower — to wash
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. land — to come down
  10. shower — rain
  11. pop — to visit
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. branch — a division
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. wake — a trail
  22. land — ground
  23. saw — the tool
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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