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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 116 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: cold · straw · shower · fan · branch · vault · dip · deal

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. cold — an illness
  8. deal — to handle
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. shower — rain
  11. vault — a safe
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. dip — to sink
  21. shower — to wash
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. branch — a division

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