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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 120 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 hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. cue — a signal
  3. cap — a lid
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. cue — a hint
  6. chest — a box
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. branch — a division
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. track — a song
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. chest — of your body
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. chest — of your body
  15. club — for dancing
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — an illness
  18. club — a group
  19. cap — a hat
  20. track — to keep track
  21. cue — for pool
  22. club — for golf
  23. track — a path
  24. cap — of ice

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