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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. band — a ring
  3. dip — to sink
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. wind — moving air
  7. branch — a division
  8. cold — an illness
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. band — a music group
  12. wind — moving air
  13. can — a tin
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. cold — not warm
  18. can — to be able to
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. lash — an eyelash

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