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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. hand — help
  3. board — to get on
  4. wound — an injury
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. pass — a permit
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. board — a committee
  11. hand — in cards
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. branch — a division
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. cold — not warm
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. cold — an illness

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