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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. rash — hasty
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. sharp — clever
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. cold — an illness
  9. spell — a short time
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. spell — magic
  15. spell — letters
  16. rash — a series
  17. toast — bread
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. branch — a division
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. cold — not warm
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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