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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. shower — to wash
  3. shower — rain
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. band — a ring
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. field — farmland
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. wound — an injury
  14. field — a subject
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. snap — to click
  18. branch — a division
  19. wound — an injury
  20. band — a music group
  21. row — a line
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. field — for sport
  24. band — a rubber band

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