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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. board — a committee
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. shower — to wash
  14. tear — to rip
  15. board — to get on
  16. file — a line of people
  17. shower — rain
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — from crying
  20. branch — a division
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. file — a document
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. file — a tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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