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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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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: branch · bay · nail · lash · row · wind · cap · cold

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. cap — of ice
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. branch — a division
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. cold — an illness
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. row — a line
  11. cap — a lid
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. cap — a hat
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. row — to paddle
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. cold — the Cold War

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