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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. fall — to drop
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. mate — to breed
  5. mine — for digging
  6. cold — an illness
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. object — an aim
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. branch — a division
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. mate — a friend
  14. shower — to wash
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. fall — the season
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. fall — to drop
  20. object — to protest
  21. object — a thing
  22. shower — rain
  23. mate — a partner
  24. cold — not warm

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