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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 116 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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. bank — for money
  3. chair — a leader
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. spring — the season
  6. shower — to wash
  7. shower — rain
  8. bank — for money
  9. spring — a coil
  10. game — wild animals
  11. bank — of a river
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. game — a match
  14. cell — a phone
  15. branch — a division
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. band — a music group
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. spring — of water
  23. band — a ring
  24. branch — of a tree

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