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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. cold — not warm
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. rule — government
  6. march — music
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. cold — an illness
  10. net — after costs
  11. cue — a hint
  12. net — in sport
  13. branch — a division
  14. net — for catching
  15. bank — for money
  16. bank — of a river
  17. rule — a law
  18. cue — for pool
  19. march — the month
  20. march — the month
  21. bank — for money
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cue — a signal

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