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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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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: band · land · bank · rule · cold · branch · cabinet · row

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. rule — a law
  3. bank — for money
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. band — a music group
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. rule — government
  9. row — a line
  10. bank — of a river
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. land — ground
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. land — to come down
  15. row — to paddle
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. band — a ring
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. land — a country
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bank — for money
  24. branch — a division

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