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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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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. spell — magic
  3. ground — crushed
  4. row — to paddle
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. ground — the earth
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. chest — a box
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — a line
  13. wake — a trail
  14. chest — of your body
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. spell — a short time
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. spell — letters
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. ground — a position
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. wake — before a funeral

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