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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: cold · track · branch · charge · kid · mouse · sharp · tear

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. tear — to rip
  3. charge — in control
  4. charge — a price
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. charge — electricity
  7. kid — child
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. sharp — clever
  10. track — a path
  11. branch — a division
  12. track — to keep track
  13. tear — from crying
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. tear — from crying
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. cold — not warm
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. track — a song
  24. kid — to tease

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