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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  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 — belonging to me
  2. club — for dancing
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. roll — a cake
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. band — a ring
  7. perch — the fish
  8. club — a group
  9. roll — a list
  10. bass — low music
  11. shower — rain
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. club — for golf
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. mine — for digging
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. shower — to wash
  21. band — a music group
  22. bass — the fish
  23. perch — for a bird
  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