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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. wake — a trail
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. branch — a division
  7. hand — in cards
  8. dip — to sink
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. hand — help
  15. cold — an illness
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. dip — a sauce

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