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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. spring — of water
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. fall — to drop
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. hand — in cards
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. fall — the season
  14. branch — a division
  15. spring — a coil
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. fall — to drop
  19. spring — the season
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. hand — help
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. mouse — for a computer

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