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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. branch — a division
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. mug — to rob
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. stem — to come from
  12. roll — a cake
  13. game — wild animals
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. roll — a list
  17. mug — a cup
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. game — a match
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. mug — a face

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