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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: branch · stock · cold · file · bore · plane · foot · wind

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bore — to tire
  3. bore — to drill
  4. branch — a division
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. stock — shares
  8. cold — an illness
  9. file — a line of people
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. wind — moving air
  12. file — a document
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. foot — a measure
  15. cold — not warm
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. file — a tool
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. plane — a tool
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. stock — goods

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