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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  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 — not warm
  2. branch — a division
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. lean — thin
  7. spring — a coil
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. ball — a dance
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. hand — in cards
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. ball — a great time
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. spring — of water
  19. lean — to bend
  20. hand — help
  21. rush — hurry
  22. spring — the season
  23. hand — part of the body
  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