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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: branch · spell · fall · game · straw · land · toast · pitcher

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. land — ground
  4. spell — letters
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. fall — to drop
  7. spell — magic
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. spell — a short time
  12. toast — bread
  13. land — to come down
  14. fall — the season
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. game — a match
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. fall — to drop
  20. game — wild animals
  21. branch — a division
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. land — a country
  24. straw — a straw man

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