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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: toast · current · bay · branch · cold · tear

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. tear — to rip
  4. current — of water
  5. toast — bread
  6. cold — an illness
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. tear — from crying
  9. current — electric
  10. branch — a division
  11. tear — from crying
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. current — happening now

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