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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: shower · file · race · club · rest · season · branch · deal

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. shower — rain
  3. club — for golf
  4. file — a document
  5. file — a tool
  6. season — of the year
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. branch — a division
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. club — a group
  11. rest — a break
  12. season — in sport
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. race — humankind
  15. rest — what's left
  16. club — for dancing
  17. race — a contest
  18. race — the arms race
  19. shower — to wash
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. file — a line of people
  22. deal — to handle
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. branch — of a bank

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