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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. row — a line
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. bass — low music
  11. land — a country
  12. row — to paddle
  13. capital — money
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. cold — an illness
  16. capital — a city
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. land — to come down
  20. fork — in a road
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. land — ground
  23. branch — a division
  24. bass — the fish

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