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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 116 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. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. ball — a dance
  4. stem — to come from
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. branch — a division
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. band — a ring
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. ball — a great time
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. race — humankind
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — not warm
  20. band — a music group
  21. race — a contest
  22. squash — the sport
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. race — the arms race

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