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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. row — a line
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. last — to go on
  7. drill — army training
  8. drill — a practice
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. row — to paddle
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. last — final
  15. drill — the tool
  16. last — finally
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. fan — to cool the air

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