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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. kid — child
  5. cold — not warm
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. row — to paddle
  8. pass — a permit
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cell — in biology
  12. branch — a division
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. row — a line
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. kid — to tease
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. cell — a phone
  24. bay — a horse colour

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