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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 120 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: saw · ruler · hide · mine · branch · wind · bat · cold

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. branch — a division
  5. saw — the tool
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — moving air
  14. mine — for digging
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. saw — the tool
  20. cold — an illness
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. bat — the animal
  24. ruler — for measuring

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