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

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. scale — size or range
  3. band — a ring
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. hand — in cards
  9. hand — help
  10. file — a tool
  11. rest — what's left
  12. branch — a division
  13. file — a document
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. band — a music group
  16. scale — in music
  17. rest — a break
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bark — to shout
  22. file — a line of people
  23. rest — what's left
  24. wind — moving air

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