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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. mate — to breed
  3. branch — a division
  4. drill — a practice
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. mate — a friend
  7. drill — army training
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. can — a tin
  10. court — of a king
  11. rash — a series
  12. can — a tin
  13. race — humankind
  14. bat — the animal
  15. mate — a partner
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. race — a contest
  18. can — to be able to
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. court — for sport
  22. drill — the tool
  23. race — the arms race
  24. court — of law

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