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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  18. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. cold — an illness
  5. drill — army training
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. spring — of water
  8. band — a music group
  9. wind — moving air
  10. spring — the season
  11. present — there
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. cold — not warm
  14. band — a ring
  15. drill — the tool
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. wind — moving air
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. branch — a division
  22. present — the time now
  23. drill — a practice
  24. spring — a coil

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