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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. branch — a division
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. cold — an illness
  5. last — final
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. race — the arms race
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. race — a contest
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. cold — not warm
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. last — finally
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. race — humankind
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. wind — moving air
  23. last — to go on
  24. foot — a measure

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