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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: shower · fan · arm · net · pitcher · branch · bore · march

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. net — after costs
  5. net — for catching
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. net — in sport
  8. bore — to drill
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. march — the month
  14. branch — a division
  15. shower — rain
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. march — the month
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. march — music
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. shower — to wash
  22. bore — to tire
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. arm — part of the body

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