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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. march — the month
  3. club — for golf
  4. mine — for digging
  5. degree — from a university
  6. last — final
  7. bound — tied together
  8. degree — temperature
  9. last — finally
  10. degree — an amount
  11. club — a group
  12. branch — a division
  13. club — for dancing
  14. track — a path
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. march — music
  17. bound — certain
  18. bound — obliged
  19. march — the month
  20. track — to keep track
  21. last — to go on
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. track — a song

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