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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 rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. stem — to come from
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. branch — a division
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. current — of water
  9. pop — music
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — the animal
  12. pop — to visit
  13. file — a document
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. file — a line of people
  17. current — happening now
  18. pop — soda
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. current — electric
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. stem — of a plant

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