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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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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: pop · shower · bound · wind · bark · rash · branch · straw

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. rash — hasty
  3. shower — to wash
  4. pop — music
  5. bound — obliged
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bound — certain
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. pop — to visit
  11. bark — to shout
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. pop — soda
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. wind — moving air
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. rash — a series
  22. shower — rain
  23. branch — a division
  24. bound — tied together

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