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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. mate — a partner
  7. game — wild animals
  8. cold — not warm
  9. game — a match
  10. tear — to rip
  11. mate — to breed
  12. cue — for pool
  13. cue — a hint
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bark — to shout
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. scale — in music
  18. mate — a friend
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. scale — size or range
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. cue — a signal
  24. tear — from crying

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