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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: toast · branch · cold · coach · last · wake · shower · wind

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. wind — moving air
  3. last — to go on
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. cold — not warm
  8. shower — to wash
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. last — finally
  11. wind — moving air
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. shower — rain
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. last — final
  17. toast — bread
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. wake — a trail
  20. cold — an illness
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. branch — a division
  24. branch — of a tree

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