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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: shower · spring · row · trunk · cold · charge · rest · branch

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. spring — of water
  5. charge — electricity
  6. rest — what's left
  7. spring — a coil
  8. rest — what's left
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. branch — a division
  15. rest — a break
  16. cold — not warm
  17. spring — the season
  18. shower — rain
  19. charge — in control
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. charge — a price
  22. shower — to wash
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. row — to paddle

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