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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. ball — a great time
  4. spring — a coil
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. branch — a division
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. season — of the year
  9. season — in sport
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. squash — to crush
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. shower — rain
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. ball — a dance
  19. squash — the sport
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. spring — of water
  22. shower — to wash
  23. spring — the season
  24. squash — the vegetable

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