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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. last — finally
  3. saw — the tool
  4. saw — the tool
  5. club — a group
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bore — to tire
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. club — for golf
  11. last — final
  12. cold — an illness
  13. fork — in a road
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. last — to go on
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. bore — to drill
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. branch — a division

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