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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. cold — not warm
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — a subject
  8. hand — in cards
  9. rule — a law
  10. rule — government
  11. branch — a division
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — to tease
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. field — for sport
  19. rock — a stone
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. cold — an illness
  22. rock — music
  23. hand — help
  24. cold — the Cold War

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