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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: branch · rush · kick · cold · squash · date · file · mark

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. file — a tool
  3. squash — the sport
  4. mark — a grade
  5. file — a document
  6. rush — hurry
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. kick — in football
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. squash — to crush
  14. mark — a trace
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. branch — a division
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. file — a line of people
  24. date — the fruit

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