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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. branch — a division
  3. kid — child
  4. can — a tin
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. march — the month
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. wind — moving air
  9. can — to be able to
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. wind — moving air
  14. ball — a dance
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. march — the month
  17. march — music
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. ball — a great time
  20. can — a tin
  21. mine — for digging
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. ball — a round shape

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