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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. cold — an illness
  5. track — a song
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. branch — a division
  9. mate — a partner
  10. track — to keep track
  11. clip — to cut
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. mate — to breed
  14. cold — not warm
  15. plane — a tool
  16. mate — a friend
  17. clip — a video
  18. track — a path
  19. clip — for paper
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. stand — to bear

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