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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 · rule · bark · branch · mate · chip · bore · field

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bore — to tire
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. mate — to breed
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. bark — to shout
  10. mate — a partner
  11. field — for sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. bore — to drill
  14. branch — a division
  15. mate — a friend
  16. field — a subject
  17. chip — to eat
  18. cold — an illness
  19. chip — for betting
  20. rule — government
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. bark — of a tree

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