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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: rush · branch · staff · pit · cold · bass · wound · bark

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. rush — hurry
  5. cold — not warm
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. bass — the fish
  8. branch — a division
  9. bass — low music
  10. pit — in a race
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. staff — a stick
  14. pit — a hole
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. bark — to shout
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cold — an illness
  23. staff — employees
  24. wound — an injury

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