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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 was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — for digging
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. file — a line of people
  6. sharp — clever
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. bulb — for light
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. branch — a division
  14. row — to paddle
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. bulb — for light
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. row — a line
  20. shower — rain
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a document
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. sharp — exactly

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