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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 116 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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. track — a song
  3. cell — a phone
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. fall — to drop
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. fall — to drop
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. rest — what's left
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. cell — in biology
  12. spring — the season
  13. fall — the season
  14. spring — a coil
  15. track — a path
  16. pound — a weight
  17. track — to keep track
  18. rest — a break
  19. rest — what's left
  20. perch — the fish
  21. spring — of water
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. branch — a division

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