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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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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: fall · shower · cold · last · mug · branch · race · squash

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. branch — a division
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. race — the arms race
  6. mug — to rob
  7. race — humankind
  8. last — final
  9. last — to go on
  10. shower — rain
  11. squash — to crush
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. cold — an illness
  14. last — finally
  15. fall — to drop
  16. cold — not warm
  17. squash — the sport
  18. mug — a cup
  19. mug — a face
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. fall — to drop
  23. race — a contest
  24. fall — the season

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