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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. cap — of ice
  3. cold — not warm
  4. branch — a division
  5. board — to get on
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. spring — a coil
  10. cap — a hat
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cap — a lid
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. pound — a weight
  18. board — a committee
  19. spring — of water
  20. cell — a phone
  21. wind — moving air
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. spring — the season

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