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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: branch · mark · tube · cold · race · bowl

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. cold — not warm
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. mark — a trace
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. tube — the underground
  7. race — humankind
  8. race — the arms race
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. mark — a grade
  11. race — a contest
  12. cold — an illness
  13. branch — a division
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. tube — a container
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. bowl — a football final

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