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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 116 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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. mate — to breed
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mate — a friend
  5. plane — a tool
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. branch — a division
  9. cell — in biology
  10. track — a path
  11. cell — a phone
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. rash — hasty
  14. cold — not warm
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. mate — a partner
  20. track — a song
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. rash — a series
  23. track — to keep track
  24. shower — to wash

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