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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 120 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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. cold — an illness
  5. content — happy
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. race — a contest
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bore — to drill
  13. field — a subject
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. race — humankind
  17. content — the amount
  18. bore — to tire
  19. cold — not warm
  20. field — for sport
  21. race — the arms race
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. field — farmland

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