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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: pop · bulb · land · last · net · branch · chest · spell

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. spell — letters
  3. bulb — for light
  4. pop — to visit
  5. land — a country
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pop — music
  8. chest — a box
  9. bulb — for light
  10. land — ground
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. chest — of your body
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. net — for catching
  15. last — final
  16. branch — a division
  17. net — after costs
  18. last — finally
  19. net — in sport
  20. last — to go on
  21. land — to come down
  22. pop — soda
  23. spell — a short time
  24. branch — of a bank

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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