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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. rest — what's left
  3. press — newspapers
  4. rest — a break
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. shower — rain
  7. wound — an injury
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cold — not warm
  11. shower — to wash
  12. cold — an illness
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. branch — a division
  19. press — a publisher
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. squash — the sport
  22. press — to push
  23. rest — what's left
  24. squash — to crush

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