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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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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: pitcher · wind · rush · board · fan · fall · cold · branch

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. cold — not warm
  3. rush — hurry
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. board — a committee
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wind — moving air
  13. board — to get on
  14. cold — an illness
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. wind — moving air
  18. branch — a division
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. fall — the season
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. board — a flat piece

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