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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: chest · cold · branch · stem · straw · nail · season · key

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. cold — not warm
  4. key — in music
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. stem — to come from
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. key — the most important part
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. chest — a box
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cold — an illness
  17. key — for a lock
  18. season — in sport
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. chest — of your body
  21. season — of the year
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. branch — a division

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