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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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Word bank
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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: bay · straw · chest · land · branch · season · nail · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. chest — of your body
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. cold — an illness
  8. land — to come down
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. chest — of your body
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. land — ground
  16. season — of the year
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. season — in sport
  20. land — a country
  21. cold — not warm
  22. chest — a box
  23. branch — a division
  24. branch — of a bank

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