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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · pound · wax · rush · hide · branch

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. cold — not warm
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. pound — a weight
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. wax — to grow
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. branch — a division
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. cold — an illness

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