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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 116 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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. wind — moving air
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. branch — a division
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. shower — rain
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. degree — from a university
  13. degree — temperature
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. spell — a short time
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. spell — letters
  18. shower — to wash
  19. spell — magic
  20. degree — an amount
  21. wind — moving air
  22. pound — a weight
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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