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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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468
Word bank
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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bore — to tire
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. rest — a break
  9. rest — what's left
  10. branch — a division
  11. rest — what's left
  12. snap — to click
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. cold — an illness
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. bore — to drill
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. fine — all right
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. branch — of a tree

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