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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 a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. snap — to click
  3. club — for dancing
  4. branch — a division
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. shower — rain
  8. wound — an injury
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. wind — moving air
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. drill — army training
  15. drill — the tool
  16. wind — moving air
  17. pitch — completely
  18. club — a group
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. club — for golf
  23. shower — to wash
  24. wound — an injury

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