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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. chest — of your body
  4. squash — to crush
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. land — a country
  7. wound — an injury
  8. chest — of your body
  9. land — ground
  10. wound — an injury
  11. squash — the sport
  12. track — a path
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. branch — a division
  15. chest — a box
  16. roll — a cake
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. roll — a list
  19. land — to come down
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. track — to keep track
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. track — a song
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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