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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. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. net — in sport
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. tear — from crying
  12. net — after costs
  13. tear — from crying
  14. net — for catching
  15. branch — a division
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. tear — to rip
  18. cell — a phone

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