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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. bank — for money
  3. last — finally
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. kid — child
  6. wake — a trail
  7. cap — a hat
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — to drop
  11. last — final
  12. bank — for money
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. last — to go on
  16. kid — to tease
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. cap — a lid
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. bank — of a river
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. branch — a division
  23. cold — an illness
  24. fall — the season

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