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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. wind — moving air
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. squash — to crush
  7. file — a tool
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. branch — a division
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. shower — rain
  12. pitch — completely
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. rash — hasty
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a document
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. shower — to wash
  20. rash — a series
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. wind — moving air
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. branch — of a tree

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