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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. branch — a division
  5. last — final
  6. roll — a cake
  7. sharp — clever
  8. last — finally
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. last — to go on
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — in biology
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — the season
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. roll — a list
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cell — a phone

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