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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hand — in cards
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pit — a hole
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. bank — for money
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. branch — a division
  9. field — for sport
  10. bank — of a river
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. spell — magic
  13. field — farmland
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. spell — letters
  17. spell — a short time
  18. cold — an illness
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. field — a subject
  21. hand — help
  22. pit — in a race
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bank — for money

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