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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. pop — soda
  3. pop — to visit
  4. land — ground
  5. saw — the tool
  6. spell — magic
  7. branch — a division
  8. spell — a short time
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. last — finally
  11. pop — music
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. net — after costs
  14. last — final
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. saw — the tool
  17. spell — letters
  18. land — a country
  19. net — in sport
  20. last — to go on
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. net — for catching
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — of a bank

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