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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: bear · row · clip · branch · cap · cold · fan · temple

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. cap — a hat
  5. row — a line
  6. clip — to cut
  7. cap — a lid
  8. bear — the animal
  9. clip — for paper
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. row — to paddle
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. bear — the animal
  15. cold — an illness
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. clip — a video
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. cap — of ice
  23. branch — a division
  24. branch — of a tree

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