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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. mate — a friend
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. cold — not warm
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. sharp — clever
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. stand — to bear
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. mate — to breed
  20. stand — on your feet
  21. branch — a division
  22. mate — a partner
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. cold — the Cold War

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