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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. hand — help
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. cold — an illness
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. tube — a container
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. content — happy
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. tube — the underground
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. dip — to sink
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. content — the amount
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. branch — a division
  21. cold — not warm
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. stem — to come from

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