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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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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 · kid · saw · pop · rest · cold · cell · sharp

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. kid — child
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pop — music
  7. sharp — clever
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. rest — what's left
  10. branch — a division
  11. saw — the tool
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. pop — to visit
  14. pop — soda
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. saw — the tool
  19. rest — a break
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cell — in biology
  22. kid — to tease
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rest — what's left

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