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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. file — a tool
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cap — of ice
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. cap — a lid
  8. bound — tied together
  9. ball — a dance
  10. sharp — clever
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bound — obliged
  16. ball — a great time
  17. file — a document
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. file — a line of people
  22. cap — a hat
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bound — certain

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