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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: rule · march · pit · wave · bulb · cold · fan · branch

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. branch — a division
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. rule — government
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. pit — in a race
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bulb — for light
  11. march — music
  12. march — the month
  13. rule — a law
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. cold — not warm
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. pit — a hole
  20. bulb — for light
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. cold — an illness
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. march — the month

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