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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. rule — a law
  4. rest — what's left
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. row — a line
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. shower — rain
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. wound — an injury
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. row — to paddle
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. rule — government
  18. shower — to wash
  19. branch — a division
  20. wound — an injury
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. rest — what's left

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