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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: track · cold · branch · rest · squash · spring · saw · board

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. cold — an illness
  3. spring — the season
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. track — a path
  6. cold — not warm
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. squash — to crush
  9. track — a song
  10. track — to keep track
  11. board — a committee
  12. rest — a break
  13. spring — of water
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. branch — a division
  16. rest — what's left
  17. board — to get on
  18. saw — the tool
  19. squash — the sport
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. rest — what's left

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