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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: bear · cold · game · swing · branch · lie · kick · staff

  1. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. lie — to recline
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. staff — employees
  5. swing — in golf
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. branch — a division
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. staff — employees
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bear — the animal
  12. staff — a stick
  13. kick — in football
  14. bear — the animal
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. game — wild animals
  18. swing — music
  19. swing — to play on
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. game — a match
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. cold — the Cold War

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