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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's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bear — the animal
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. bear — the animal
  8. key — in music
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. clip — to cut
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. mine — for digging
  15. clip — for paper
  16. key — for a lock
  17. roll — a cake
  18. branch — a division
  19. roll — a list
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. key — the most important part
  23. clip — a video
  24. shower — rain

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