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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. band — a music group
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. row — a line
  6. land — ground
  7. rash — a series
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. court — of law
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. court — for sport
  13. scale — in music
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. band — a ring
  16. rash — hasty
  17. court — of a king
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. branch — a division
  21. land — to come down
  22. land — a country
  23. row — to paddle
  24. scale — size or range

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