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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's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. rash — hasty
  8. bear — the animal
  9. shower — rain
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bear — the animal
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. rash — a series
  14. season — in sport
  15. season — of the year
  16. branch — a division
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. drill — a practice
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. drill — army training
  22. snap — to click
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. drill — the tool

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