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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. present — a gift
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. band — a ring
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. band — a music group
  10. present — the time now
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. shower — rain
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. land — to come down
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. land — ground
  19. shower — to wash
  20. land — a country
  21. present — there
  22. pound — a weight
  23. branch — a division
  24. bowl — a football final

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