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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: shower · cold · wave · branch · stick · wax · pound · game

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. stick — to attach or keep to
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. branch — a division
  6. shower — to wash
  7. cold — not warm
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. game — a match
  11. shower — rain
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. game — wild animals
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. wax — to grow
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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