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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 116 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: rest · tube · mate · row · lie · safe · branch · cold

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. cold — not warm
  3. rest — a break
  4. mate — to breed
  5. mate — a partner
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. mate — a friend
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. lie — to recline
  11. branch — a division
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. row — to paddle
  16. tube — a container
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. rest — what's left
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. row — a line
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. rest — what's left
  24. tube — the underground

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