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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 116 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: kick · dip · cold · ground · saw · branch · leaves · root

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. ground — crushed
  8. branch — a division
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. kick — in football
  11. dip — to sink
  12. ground — a position
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. saw — the tool
  15. root — the cause
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. cold — an illness
  21. root — of a plant
  22. root — of a word
  23. saw — the tool
  24. ground — the earth

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