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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 116 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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. plane — a tool
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. board — to get on
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — an illness
  7. kid — child
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. cold — not warm
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. kid — to tease
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. tear — from crying
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. mine — for digging
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. board — a committee
  24. mine — an explosive

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