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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 116 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: rash · last · game · branch · prune · cold · rush · fan

  1. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. game — wild animals
  4. last — to go on
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. rash — hasty
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. game — a match
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. last — final
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. branch — a division
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. last — finally
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. prune — to trim
  23. rush — hurry
  24. fan — a supporter

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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