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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. cold — an illness
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. cold — not warm
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. branch — a division
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. lie — to recline
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. mine — for digging

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