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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. net — in sport
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. land — ground
  7. bass — low music
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. net — after costs
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — not warm
  13. net — for catching
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. bass — the fish
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. wound — an injury
  19. land — to come down
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. wound — an injury
  22. branch — a division
  23. toast — bread
  24. nail — for a hammer

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