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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. fall — to drop
  3. rule — government
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. cold — not warm
  7. race — humankind
  8. board — to get on
  9. race — the arms race
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. rule — a law
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. branch — a division
  15. pound — a weight
  16. race — a contest
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. board — a committee
  20. shower — rain
  21. shower — to wash
  22. cold — an illness
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — the season

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