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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 116 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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. track — a song
  4. pit — a hole
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. kid — child
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. swing — music
  10. swing — to play on
  11. cold — not warm
  12. mine — for digging
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pit — in a race
  15. track — to keep track
  16. swing — in golf
  17. track — a path
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. kid — to tease
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. cold — an illness
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. branch — a division
  24. cabinet — ministers

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