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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. chest — a box
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. land — ground
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. vault — a safe
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. last — finally
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. hand — help
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. hand — in cards
  15. cold — an illness
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. land — to come down
  18. cold — not warm
  19. chest — of your body
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. last — final
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. land — a country
  24. last — to go on

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