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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. hand — in cards
  4. deal — to handle
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. file — a line of people
  8. file — a document
  9. roll — a list
  10. roll — a cake
  11. hand — help
  12. spell — magic
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. date — the fruit
  16. file — a tool
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. branch — a division
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. spell — letters
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. spell — a short time

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