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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 120 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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. branch — a division
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. scale — size or range
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. scale — in music
  13. can — a tin
  14. cell — in biology
  15. can — a tin
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. wax — to grow
  18. bark — to shout
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. can — to be able to
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. cell — in a prison

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