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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. club — for dancing
  3. club — for golf
  4. club — a group
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pound — a weight
  10. drill — the tool
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. drill — a practice
  14. branch — a division
  15. cold — not warm
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. drill — army training
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. face — part of the head
  23. face — to point toward
  24. face — to confront

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