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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. cap — a hat
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. branch — a division
  8. file — a line of people
  9. pop — to visit
  10. pop — music
  11. wake — a trail
  12. kid — child
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. file — a tool
  17. spring — of water
  18. spring — the season
  19. cap — a lid
  20. pop — soda
  21. kid — to tease
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. file — a document
  24. branch — of a tree

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