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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wind — moving air
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. branch — a division
  6. can — to be able to
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. can — a tin
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wound — an injury
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. stand — to bear
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wound — an injury
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. stand — on your feet

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