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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. net — in sport
  3. tear — to rip
  4. board — a committee
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. drill — the tool
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. drill — army training
  9. net — for catching
  10. band — a music group
  11. band — a ring
  12. cold — an illness
  13. net — after costs
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. branch — a division
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pound — a weight
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — from crying
  23. board — to get on
  24. drill — a practice

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