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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: cold · bank · wave · rule · swing · toast · mine · branch

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. cold — an illness
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. swing — in golf
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. toast — bread
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. swing — to play on
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. rule — a law
  13. bank — for money
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. bank — of a river
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. rule — government
  19. swing — music
  20. branch — a division
  21. mine — for digging
  22. bank — for money
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

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