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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 124 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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. row — a line
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. degree — an amount
  7. rest — what's left
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. branch — a division
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. date — the fruit
  13. land — to come down
  14. degree — from a university
  15. cell — in biology
  16. rest — what's left
  17. degree — temperature
  18. row — to paddle
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. rest — a break
  21. land — ground
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. land — a country
  24. lash — an eyelash

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