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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. last — final
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. key — the most important part
  6. key — for a lock
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. rush — hurry
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. branch — a division
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. last — to go on
  13. march — the month
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. march — music
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. cold — an illness
  18. key — in music
  19. last — finally
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. roll — a list
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. roll — a cake
  24. march — the month

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