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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: swing · nail · sharp · branch · rest · mate · cold · file

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. file — a line of people
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — what's left
  5. sharp — clever
  6. mate — a partner
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. file — a document
  9. mate — a friend
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. rest — a break
  13. branch — a division
  14. swing — to play on
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. cold — an illness
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. mate — to breed
  20. cold — not warm
  21. file — a tool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. swing — in golf
  24. nail — for a hammer

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