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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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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 · branch · safe · cold · race · squash · wound · wave

  1. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a bank
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. band — a music group
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. race — the arms race
  8. race — humankind
  9. cold — not warm
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. race — a contest
  13. squash — the sport
  14. wound — an injury
  15. branch — a division
  16. squash — to crush
  17. band — a ring
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. wound — an injury
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. safe — out of danger

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