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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. bound — obliged
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. bound — tied together
  7. bound — certain
  8. season — in sport
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. swing — to play on
  11. swing — in golf
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. wax — to grow
  14. drill — a practice
  15. net — for catching
  16. branch — a division
  17. mine — for digging
  18. drill — the tool
  19. net — in sport
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. swing — music
  23. season — of the year
  24. net — after costs

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