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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. rest — what's left
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rest — what's left
  6. drill — a practice
  7. drill — army training
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. cold — not warm
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. face — to confront
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. drill — the tool
  15. cold — an illness
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. face — to point toward
  18. game — a match
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. face — part of the head
  23. branch — a division
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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