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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. mate — a partner
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. race — a contest
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bat — the animal
  7. race — humankind
  8. branch — a division
  9. mate — to breed
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. mate — a friend
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. spring — of water
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. kick — in football
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. race — the arms race
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — the season

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