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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. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. current — happening now
  3. last — final
  4. current — electric
  5. march — the month
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. craft — boats
  8. cold — not warm
  9. march — the month
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. last — to go on
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. craft — a skill
  14. last — finally
  15. craft — a handicraft
  16. current — of water
  17. shower — to wash
  18. march — music
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. branch — a division
  23. shower — rain
  24. branch — of a tree

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