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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 116 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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. mine — for digging
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. cue — a hint
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. cue — a signal
  9. season — of the year
  10. hand — help
  11. lie — to recline
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. season — in sport
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. cue — for pool
  18. hand — in cards
  19. bat — the animal
  20. branch — a division
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. lie — an untruth

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