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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.

Make a worksheet

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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. branch — a division
  5. cold — not warm
  6. key — for a lock
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. key — the most important part
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. row — a line
  14. row — to paddle
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. key — in music
  17. cold — an illness
  18. straw — dry grass

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