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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: calf · spell · fan · shower · mark · row · branch · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. row — a line
  3. spell — a short time
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. mark — a trace
  9. spell — letters
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. branch — a division
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. spell — magic
  15. mark — a grade
  16. row — to paddle
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. shower — to wash
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. cold — not warm

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