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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: track · deal · squash · bat · shower · present · branch · snap

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. squash — to crush
  4. branch — a division
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. track — a song
  7. shower — rain
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. track — a path
  10. snap — to click
  11. track — to keep track
  12. deal — to handle
  13. present — a gift
  14. shower — to wash
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. present — the time now
  23. present — there
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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