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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bear — the animal
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. bear — the animal
  7. cold — an illness
  8. spring — a coil
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. spring — of water
  11. fall — to drop
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. branch — a division
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. cold — not warm
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. spring — the season
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. rush — hurry
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. fall — to drop

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