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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. branch — a division
  3. cold — not warm
  4. court — of a king
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. bore — to drill
  8. bore — to tire
  9. roll — a list
  10. file — a line of people
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. cold — an illness
  13. file — a tool
  14. roll — a cake
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. court — of law
  18. squash — to crush
  19. court — for sport
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. file — a document
  22. squash — the sport
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. roll — on a roll

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