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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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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: cell · tube · mine · rest · kid · straw · branch · cap

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. kid — to tease
  3. branch — a division
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. cap — a lid
  6. rest — a break
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. cell — a phone
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. tube — the underground
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. rest — what's left
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. kid — child
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. tube — a container
  19. rest — what's left
  20. mine — for digging
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. cap — of ice
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cap — a hat

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