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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. suit — to fit
  3. rock — music
  4. cold — an illness
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. court — of law
  9. rock — a stone
  10. roll — a list
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. suit — clothes
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. branch — a division
  17. tear — to rip
  18. roll — a cake
  19. tear — from crying
  20. court — of a king
  21. court — for sport
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. tear — from crying
  24. suit — in cards

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