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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. stem — to come from
  4. file — a document
  5. file — a tool
  6. lie — to recline
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. can — a tin
  10. cold — an illness
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. file — a line of people
  14. chair — a leader
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. can — to be able to
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. branch — a division

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