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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: content · cap · land · wind · branch · ground · plane · club

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. ground — the earth
  3. ground — crushed
  4. cap — a lid
  5. branch — a division
  6. land — ground
  7. content — happy
  8. club — for golf
  9. wind — moving air
  10. content — the amount
  11. plane — a tool
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. ground — a position
  16. land — to come down
  17. cap — a hat
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. club — a group
  21. cap — of ice
  22. wind — moving air
  23. land — a country
  24. wind — to turn a key

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