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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — in sport
  3. staff — employees
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. branch — a division
  6. cold — an illness
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. drill — a practice
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. tube — a container
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. tube — the underground
  17. deal — to handle
  18. staff — a stick
  19. cold — not warm
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. staff — employees
  22. drill — the tool
  23. drill — army training
  24. branch — of a bank

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