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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: fall · season · cold · branch · key · foot · shower · swing

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. season — of the year
  3. shower — to wash
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. key — for a lock
  7. fall — the season
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. season — in sport
  10. branch — a division
  11. foot — a measure
  12. shower — rain
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. fall — to drop
  15. cold — not warm
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. key — in music
  19. fall — to drop
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. swing — in golf
  23. swing — music
  24. key — the most important part

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