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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: ground · chest · branch · rest · wave · cold · saw · bear

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. rest — what's left
  3. bear — the animal
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. saw — the tool
  6. branch — a division
  7. chest — a box
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. rest — what's left
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. chest — of your body
  12. ground — crushed
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rest — a break
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. bear — the animal
  19. ground — a position
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. ground — the earth
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. saw — the tool

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