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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. tube — a container
  4. kick — in football
  5. row — a line
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. tube — the underground
  9. branch — a division
  10. lean — to bend
  11. cold — an illness
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — to paddle
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. deal — to handle
  18. perch — the fish
  19. cold — not warm
  20. lean — thin
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. perch — for a bird

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