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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. land — ground
  5. land — to come down
  6. bear — the animal
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. present — there
  9. present — a gift
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bear — the animal
  16. shower — rain
  17. fall — the season
  18. fall — to drop
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. branch — a division
  21. present — the time now
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. shower — to wash
  24. land — a country

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