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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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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: cold · last · row · bulb · race · staff · branch · squash

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. staff — a stick
  3. last — finally
  4. race — humankind
  5. bulb — for light
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. staff — employees
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. bulb — for light
  11. squash — the sport
  12. squash — to crush
  13. row — a line
  14. cold — an illness
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. race — the arms race
  17. last — to go on
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. row — to paddle
  20. branch — a division
  21. cold — not warm
  22. staff — employees
  23. last — final
  24. bulb — of a plant

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