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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. file — a line of people
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. file — a document
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. wind — moving air
  10. branch — a division
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. cold — an illness
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. file — a tool
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. rock — a stone
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. rock — music
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. cold — not warm
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. branch — of a tree

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