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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.

Make a worksheet

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: current · cold · row · kick · branch · scale · bowl · toast

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. toast — bread
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. scale — size or range
  11. cold — an illness
  12. kick — in football
  13. row — a line
  14. current — of water
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. scale — in music
  17. current — electric
  18. row — to paddle
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. branch — a division
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. current — happening now

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