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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. cap — a lid
  3. sharp — clever
  4. cold — not warm
  5. present — the time now
  6. present — there
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. branch — a division
  10. track — to keep track
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. bark — to shout
  14. cap — a hat
  15. track — a song
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. present — a gift
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. mine — for digging
  21. track — a path
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. cap — of ice

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