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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  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. cold — an illness
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. rush — hurry
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. cold — not warm
  8. toast — bread
  9. saw — the tool
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. net — in sport
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. saw — the tool
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. branch — a division
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. net — after costs
  20. net — for catching
  21. snap — to click
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. coach — a trainer
  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