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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: rule · band · nail · wake · fork · cold · safe · branch

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. band — a ring
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rule — government
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. cold — not warm
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. band — a music group
  17. fork — in a road
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. wake — a trail
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. branch — a division
  24. nail — for a hammer

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