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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 · foot · branch · tube · toast · bat · tear · can

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. foot — a measure
  3. toast — bread
  4. can — to be able to
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. cold — an illness
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. tube — the underground
  13. can — a tin
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. cold — not warm
  17. branch — a division
  18. can — a tin
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. tube — a container
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. toast — a drink to someone

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