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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: branch · last · rule · file · foot · saw · cold · deal

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. file — a document
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. rule — a law
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. deal — to handle
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. branch — a division
  10. last — finally
  11. cold — not warm
  12. last — to go on
  13. saw — the tool
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. foot — a measure
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. rule — government
  18. saw — the tool
  19. cold — an illness
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a line of people
  24. branch — 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