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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. file — a tool
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. fall — to drop
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. pitch — completely
  15. fall — to drop
  16. wound — an injury
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a document
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. fall — the season
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — help
  24. wound — an injury

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