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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 120 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. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. ball — a dance
  4. mate — a partner
  5. mate — to breed
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. staff — employees
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. branch — a division
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. cold — an illness
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. mate — a friend
  14. spring — the season
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. spring — of water
  17. ball — a great time
  18. staff — a stick
  19. fork — in a road
  20. race — the arms race
  21. race — a contest
  22. staff — employees
  23. cold — not warm
  24. spring — a coil

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