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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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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: wind · saw · safe · squash · chair · branch · cold · band

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. band — a music group
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. branch — a division
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. squash — the sport
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chair — a leader
  13. saw — the tool
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. saw — the tool
  16. wind — moving air
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. band — a ring
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. wind — moving air
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. squash — to crush

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