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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 · pass · pitcher · firm · mine · tear · branch · chest

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. tear — to rip
  4. chest — of your body
  5. tear — from crying
  6. mine — for digging
  7. pass — a permit
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. chest — of your body
  13. branch — a division
  14. firm — a company
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. chest — a box
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. tear — from crying
  21. firm — steady
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. cold — not warm

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