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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 · cold · squash · net · fall · pass · branch · racket

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. fall — the season
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. fall — to drop
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. squash — the sport
  11. net — in sport
  12. fall — to drop
  13. cold — an illness
  14. net — for catching
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. shower — to wash
  17. branch — a division
  18. shower — rain
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. pass — a permit
  21. squash — to crush
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. net — after costs

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