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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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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: branch · band · cabinet · mine · rule · track · fan · cold

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. track — a path
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. track — to keep track
  5. band — a music group
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. mine — for digging
  8. rule — government
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. cold — an illness
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. rule — a law
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. cold — not warm
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. branch — a division
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. track — a song
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. cold — the Cold War

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