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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: date · rock · roll · race · cold · branch · fall · kid

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. date — the fruit
  5. cold — not warm
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. race — a contest
  8. kid — to tease
  9. fall — the season
  10. cold — an illness
  11. fall — to drop
  12. roll — a cake
  13. race — humankind
  14. rock — a stone
  15. kid — child
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. fall — to drop
  18. rock — music
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. branch — a division
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. roll — a list
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. race — the arms race

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