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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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. last — final
  4. last — finally
  5. field — farmland
  6. branch — a division
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. charge — a price
  9. field — a subject
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. field — for sport
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. cold — an illness
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. pop — music
  16. charge — in control
  17. last — to go on
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. pop — to visit
  20. charge — electricity
  21. pop — soda
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. rash — hasty
  24. rash — a series

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