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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 124 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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — of a tree
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. mug — a cup
  4. mug — to rob
  5. land — ground
  6. cell — a phone
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. last — final
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. land — to come down
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. mug — a face
  13. branch — a division
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bark — to shout
  19. land — a country
  20. cell — in biology
  21. last — to go on
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. last — finally
  24. stand — to bear

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