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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. cold — not warm
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. rule — government
  5. staff — employees
  6. spring — the season
  7. last — final
  8. spring — a coil
  9. staff — employees
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. spring — of water
  12. bore — to drill
  13. branch — a division
  14. mate — a friend
  15. mate — a partner
  16. rule — a law
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bore — to tire
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. last — to go on
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. staff — a stick
  24. last — finally

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