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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. spring — the season
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. cap — of ice
  5. last — final
  6. chest — a box
  7. cap — a hat
  8. spring — of water
  9. last — finally
  10. rule — a law
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. rule — government
  15. chest — of your body
  16. spring — a coil
  17. deal — to handle
  18. cap — a lid
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. stem — to come from
  22. chest — of your body
  23. branch — a division
  24. last — to go on

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