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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 120 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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. hand — help
  5. spring — a coil
  6. club — for dancing
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. hand — in cards
  9. branch — a division
  10. club — for golf
  11. shower — rain
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. club — a group
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. row — a line
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. row — to paddle
  20. spring — of water
  21. shower — to wash
  22. spring — the season
  23. snap — to click
  24. hand — part of the body

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