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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. branch — a division
  6. mine — for digging
  7. can — a tin
  8. plane — a tool
  9. file — a document
  10. can — to be able to
  11. file — a tool
  12. land — ground
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. can — a tin
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. band — a ring
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. band — a music group
  21. land — a country
  22. land — to come down
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. file — a line of people

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