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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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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: leaves · deal · cold · shower · bark · cap · branch · patient

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. deal — to handle
  4. cap — of ice
  5. cap — a hat
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. cold — an illness
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. bark — to shout
  14. shower — rain
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. cap — a lid
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — to wash

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