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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: wind · cold · calf · rash · branch · bat · stick · lean

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. branch — a division
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. wind — moving air
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. bat — the animal
  16. lean — thin
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. lean — to bend
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. rash — a series
  22. wind — moving air
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. rash — hasty

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