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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. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. last — to go on
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. lie — to recline
  7. last — final
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. saw — the tool
  10. last — finally
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. dip — to sink
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. saw — the tool
  23. branch — a division
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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