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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. fine — all right
  3. kid — child
  4. clip — to cut
  5. dip — to sink
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. fine — high quality
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. land — a country
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. land — to come down
  14. kid — to tease
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. pound — a weight
  18. branch — a division
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. clip — a video
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. clip — for paper
  24. trunk — of a tree

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