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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: spring · fall · straw · hand · shower · chair · bay · branch

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. My mare is ________________ in color.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. shower — to wash
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. hand — help
  5. fall — to drop
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. branch — a division
  8. shower — rain
  9. spring — the season
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. chair — a leader
  13. spring — a coil
  14. fall — to drop
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bay — a horse colour
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. spring — of water
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. fall — the season
  22. hand — in cards
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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