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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. tear — from crying
  3. branch — a division
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. drill — a practice
  7. dip — to sink
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. cold — not warm
  11. tear — to rip
  12. drill — army training
  13. tear — from crying
  14. drill — the tool
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. fork — in a road
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. bowl — a football final

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