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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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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: bowl · wake · band · spring · march · rash · branch · shower

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. march — the month
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. spring — of water
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. wake — a trail
  7. band — a ring
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. spring — a coil
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. band — a music group
  12. shower — to wash
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. march — music
  15. rash — a series
  16. spring — the season
  17. march — the month
  18. branch — a division
  19. shower — rain
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. bowl — a dish

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