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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. spell — magic
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. spell — letters
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. date — the fruit
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. hand — in cards
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. spell — a short time
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. cold — not warm
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. branch — a division
  24. cold — an illness

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