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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. land — a country
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. spell — magic
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wind — moving air
  10. spell — letters
  11. swing — music
  12. branch — a division
  13. season — of the year
  14. swing — in golf
  15. land — ground
  16. wound — an injury
  17. swing — to play on
  18. season — in sport
  19. spell — a short time
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. wind — moving air
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. pitch — completely

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