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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 124 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: wind · cap · sharp · chip · shower · branch · pitch · stem

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. shower — rain
  3. cap — a lid
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cap — a hat
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. shower — to wash
  9. chip — for betting
  10. stem — to come from
  11. cap — of ice
  12. branch — a division
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. wind — moving air
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. pitch — completely
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. chip — to eat
  24. sharp — exactly

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