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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. plane — a tool
  3. spring — a coil
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. pop — to visit
  6. pop — soda
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. present — a gift
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. spring — the season
  11. pop — music
  12. race — humankind
  13. court — of a king
  14. race — a contest
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. spring — of water
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. present — there
  19. race — the arms race
  20. court — of law
  21. present — the time now
  22. branch — a division
  23. fork — in a road
  24. plane — an aircraft

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