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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 120 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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. branch — a division
  4. root — of a word
  5. cold — not warm
  6. rest — a break
  7. root — of a plant
  8. cold — an illness
  9. root — the cause
  10. swing — to play on
  11. rest — what's left
  12. band — a ring
  13. band — a music group
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rest — what's left
  16. mark — a grade
  17. mark — a trace
  18. swing — music
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. swing — in golf
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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