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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. spell — a short time
  3. rock — a stone
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. row — a line
  8. cold — an illness
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. bank — of a river
  11. branch — a division
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. root — the cause
  14. rock — music
  15. rash — a series
  16. spell — letters
  17. root — of a plant
  18. rash — hasty
  19. spell — magic
  20. bank — for money
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. bank — for money
  23. root — of a word
  24. row — to paddle

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