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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: branch · shower · ball · wave · straw · mine · row · scale

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. branch — a division
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. scale — in music
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. shower — to wash
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. ball — a great time
  10. shower — rain
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. row — to paddle
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. mine — for digging
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. ball — a dance
  23. row — a line
  24. scale — size or range

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