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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. rest — what's left
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. club — for dancing
  6. root — of a word
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — a break
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. root — the cause
  13. branch — a division
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. club — a group
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. club — for golf
  24. root — of a plant

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