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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. wind — moving air
  7. squash — to crush
  8. chest — a box
  9. staff — a stick
  10. file — a document
  11. staff — employees
  12. roll — a list
  13. branch — a division
  14. file — a line of people
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. chest — of your body
  17. roll — a cake
  18. staff — employees
  19. file — a tool
  20. chest — of your body
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. squash — the sport
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. wind — moving air

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