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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. ground — crushed
  3. chest — of your body
  4. ground — a position
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. ground — the earth
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. wake — a trail
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. mine — for digging
  13. plane — a tool
  14. chest — a box
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. rash — a series
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. branch — a division
  19. chest — of your body
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. rash — hasty
  23. plane — in geometry
  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