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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. branch — a division
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. track — a path
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — not warm
  14. track — a song
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. dip — to sink
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. bass — the fish
  21. track — to keep track
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. bass — low music
  24. bark — to shout

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