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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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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: shower · wind · chair · rest · branch · racket

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. wind — moving air
  3. branch — a division
  4. rest — what's left
  5. shower — to wash
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. rest — what's left
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. shower — rain
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. rest — a break
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. wind — moving air
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. chair — a professorship

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