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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.

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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. branch — a division
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bark — to shout
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — not warm
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. club — for dancing
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. wound — an injury
  13. club — for golf
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. cold — an illness
  18. club — a group

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