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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. rule — government
  6. branch — a division
  7. track — a path
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. mine — for digging
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. track — a song
  14. spring — of water
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. track — to keep track
  18. wind — moving air
  19. row — to paddle
  20. spring — a coil
  21. rule — a law
  22. wind — moving air
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. row — a line

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