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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: race · branch · bank · cold · pitcher · tear · prune · drill

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. race — a contest
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. branch — a division
  7. bank — for money
  8. prune — to trim
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. tear — from crying
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. prune — to trim
  13. race — the arms race
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. cold — not warm
  16. race — humankind
  17. drill — a practice
  18. drill — army training
  19. tear — to rip
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. bank — for money
  22. tear — from crying
  23. bank — of a river
  24. drill — the tool

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