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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. staff — a stick
  3. staff — employees
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. bear — the animal
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. cold — not warm
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. cold — an illness
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bear — the animal
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. branch — a division
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. staff — employees

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