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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. shower — rain
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. file — a line of people
  7. file — a tool
  8. shower — to wash
  9. fork — in a road
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. cap — a lid
  12. board — to get on
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. file — a document
  17. board — a committee
  18. pound — a weight
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. branch — a division
  22. cap — a hat
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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