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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bark — to shout
  7. track — a path
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. branch — a division
  13. cold — not warm
  14. plane — a tool
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. kid — to tease
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. hand — in cards
  20. track — to keep track
  21. track — a song
  22. kid — child
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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