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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · cold · branch · scale · mine · row · race · bulb

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. row — to paddle
  3. cold — an illness
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bulb — for light
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. race — a contest
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. row — a line
  13. branch — a division
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. scale — in music
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. race — the arms race
  19. scale — size or range
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. shower — to wash
  23. race — humankind
  24. shower — rain

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