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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: sharp · wind · firm · cold · scale · branch · lie · straw

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. firm — a company
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. scale — size or range
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. firm — steady
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. sharp — clever
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. firm — decided
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cold — not warm
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. cold — an illness
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. wind — moving air
  20. scale — in music
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. branch — a division
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. lie — to recline

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