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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. branch — a division
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. key — for a lock
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. fork — in a road
  9. root — of a plant
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. fall — to drop
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. cold — not warm
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. root — of a word
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. key — the most important part
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fall — to drop
  22. root — the cause
  23. key — in music
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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