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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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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: pound · cell · date · branch · cold · deal · bay · last

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. deal — to handle
  3. cold — an illness
  4. last — final
  5. date — the fruit
  6. cell — in biology
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. pound — a weight
  9. cell — a phone
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. last — finally
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. last — to go on
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. branch — a division
  21. cold — not warm
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. bay — a horse colour

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