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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: rash · squash · pitch · cold · branch · march · shower · nail

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. march — the month
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. shower — rain
  5. march — the month
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. rash — hasty
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. cold — not warm
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. squash — the sport
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. squash — to crush
  16. march — music
  17. branch — a division
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. rash — a series
  20. pitch — completely
  21. cold — an illness
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. shower — to wash
  24. nail — on a finger

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