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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. object — an aim
  3. roll — a cake
  4. club — for golf
  5. land — ground
  6. object — a thing
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. net — after costs
  10. object — to protest
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. club — for dancing
  15. roll — a list
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. net — in sport
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. land — a country
  20. net — for catching
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. club — a group
  23. land — to come down
  24. branch — a division

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