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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 120 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: safe · cold · club · game · band · straw · bear · branch

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. game — wild animals
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. cold — an illness
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. bear — the animal
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. game — a match
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. club — a group
  14. branch — a division
  15. safe — a strongbox
  16. bear — the animal
  17. cold — not warm
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. club — for golf
  22. band — a music group
  23. band — a ring
  24. straw — dry grass

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