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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: charge · land · mine · press · cabinet · band · hand · branch

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. press — a publisher
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. land — a country
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. hand — in cards
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. charge — in control
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. press — to push
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. mine — for digging
  14. band — a music group
  15. hand — help
  16. charge — a price
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. land — to come down
  20. charge — electricity
  21. branch — a division
  22. band — a ring
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. press — newspapers

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