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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. can — to be able to
  3. land — to come down
  4. swing — music
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. land — ground
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. cold — not warm
  10. kick — in football
  11. cold — an illness
  12. track — to keep track
  13. court — of law
  14. track — a song
  15. swing — to play on
  16. court — of a king
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. land — a country
  19. branch — a division
  20. court — for sport
  21. track — a path
  22. can — a tin
  23. can — a tin
  24. swing — in golf

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