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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: pitcher · fine · cold · stand · sharp · straw · branch · pop

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. fine — high quality
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. pop — music
  6. cold — not warm
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. branch — a division
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. pop — soda
  15. fine — all right
  16. stand — to bear
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. pop — to visit
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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