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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bat — the animal
  3. file — a tool
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. row — a line
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. row — to paddle
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. file — a document
  12. charge — a price
  13. hand — in cards
  14. charge — electricity
  15. file — a line of people
  16. cold — an illness
  17. hand — help
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. branch — a division
  21. cold — not warm
  22. charge — in control
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. hand — part of the body

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