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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: land · saw · branch · date · rash · chip · spell · hand

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. hand — help
  3. rash — a series
  4. land — a country
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. saw — the tool
  7. rash — hasty
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. chip — to eat
  12. spell — magic
  13. land — to come down
  14. chip — for betting
  15. saw — the tool
  16. hand — in cards
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. spell — letters
  20. date — the fruit
  21. spell — a short time
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. branch — a division
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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