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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: cold · spring · lean · dip · cabinet · branch · stock · ruler

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. lean — to bend
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — a coil
  7. stock — shares
  8. branch — a division
  9. lean — thin
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. spring — of water
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. stock — goods
  21. cold — not warm
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. dip — to sink

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