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

Word bank: race · cold · chair · branch · perch · pound

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. race — the arms race
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. branch — a division
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. race — a contest
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. perch — the fish
  16. race — humankind
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. pound — a weight

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