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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: fan · tube · shower · rash · branch · pitch · roll · saw

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. branch — a division
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. shower — rain
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. roll — a list
  9. shower — to wash
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. roll — a cake
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. tube — the underground
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. saw — the tool
  19. pitch — completely
  20. rash — a series
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. rash — hasty
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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