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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 · degree · rush · file · rock · branch · cold · fan

  1. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — an amount
  2. file — a line of people
  3. rock — a stone
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. degree — from a university
  7. branch — a division
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. file — a document
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. file — a tool
  15. rush — hurry
  16. rock — music
  17. shower — to wash
  18. cold — not warm
  19. shower — rain
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. cold — an illness
  22. degree — temperature
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. rush — a thrill

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