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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 116 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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. chair — a leader
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. net — for catching
  6. march — the month
  7. cold — an illness
  8. net — in sport
  9. deal — to handle
  10. branch — a division
  11. march — music
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. bear — the animal
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. cold — not warm
  18. march — the month
  19. bear — the animal
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. net — after costs
  22. rock — music
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. rock — a stone

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