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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. tear — from crying
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. bass — low music
  13. tear — to rip
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bass — the fish
  16. pass — a permit
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. cold — not warm
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. branch — a division
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. tear — from crying
  23. march — music
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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