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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. court — for sport
  3. shower — to wash
  4. game — wild animals
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. game — a match
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. branch — a division
  10. court — of law
  11. court — of a king
  12. tear — to rip
  13. wound — an injury
  14. lie — to recline
  15. wound — an injury
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — from crying
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — rain

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