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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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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 · snap · rest · pound · chair · branch · last · cap

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. cap — a hat
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. cap — of ice
  6. rest — what's left
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. last — to go on
  10. rest — what's left
  11. shower — rain
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. snap — to click
  14. pound — a weight
  15. last — finally
  16. rest — a break
  17. last — final
  18. cap — a lid
  19. branch — a division
  20. shower — to wash
  21. chair — a leader
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. pound — for dogs

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