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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 120 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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. scale — in music
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. kid — child
  8. kid — to tease
  9. squash — to crush
  10. land — to come down
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. land — a country
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. branch — a division
  15. squash — the sport
  16. land — ground
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. bear — the animal
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. scale — size or range
  23. bear — the animal
  24. lash — an eyelash

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