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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: mine · drill · bark · land · content · track · wound · branch

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. track — a song
  4. wound — an injury
  5. land — ground
  6. land — a country
  7. wound — an injury
  8. content — happy
  9. drill — a practice
  10. track — to keep track
  11. content — the amount
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. drill — the tool
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. bark — to shout
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. drill — army training
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — for digging
  22. branch — a division
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. land — to come down

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