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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. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. root — the cause
  6. hand — in cards
  7. branch — a division
  8. hand — help
  9. root — of a word
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. bank — for money
  14. root — of a plant
  15. kid — to tease
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. file — a line of people
  21. kid — child
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a document
  24. bank — of a river

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