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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.

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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: board · scale · spring · branch · sharp · capital · wake · shower

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. shower — to wash
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. branch — a division
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — in music
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. wake — a trail
  14. spring — a coil
  15. sharp — clever
  16. spring — the season
  17. capital — money
  18. capital — a city
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. scale — size or range
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. spring — of water
  23. shower — rain
  24. board — to get on

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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