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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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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: game · sharp · file · cold · bore · branch · squash · rock

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. bore — to drill
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. rock — music
  5. squash — to crush
  6. rock — a stone
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. game — wild animals
  10. cold — not warm
  11. file — a document
  12. squash — the sport
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. game — a match
  15. file — a tool
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. bore — to tire
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. branch — a division
  21. file — a line of people
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. cold — an illness
  24. sharp — clever

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