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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: straw · branch · toast · bulb · ground · cap · cold · deal

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. ground — a position
  4. cold — not warm
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. ground — crushed
  7. cap — a hat
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. deal — to handle
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. bulb — for light
  13. cap — of ice
  14. bulb — for light
  15. toast — bread
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. branch — a division
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. ground — the earth
  22. cap — a lid
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. deal — an agreement

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