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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. swing — in golf
  3. ground — a position
  4. swing — to play on
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. key — for a lock
  7. key — the most important part
  8. land — ground
  9. scale — size or range
  10. scale — in music
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. file — a line of people
  13. swing — music
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. branch — a division
  17. land — to come down
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. pound — a weight
  20. ground — the earth
  21. file — a tool
  22. key — in music
  23. file — a document
  24. ground — crushed

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