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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. saw — the tool
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pop — to visit
  7. staff — a stick
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. row — a line
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. row — to paddle
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. cold — not warm
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. staff — employees
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. pop — soda
  22. branch — a division
  23. snap — to click
  24. pop — music

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