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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 120 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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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 · land · court · wind · kick · fan · game · rest

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. kick — in football
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — wild animals
  7. branch — a division
  8. land — to come down
  9. land — ground
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. court — of a king
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. wind — moving air
  15. rest — a break
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. game — a match
  19. court — for sport
  20. rest — what's left
  21. wind — moving air
  22. court — of law
  23. rest — what's left
  24. kick — with a leg

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