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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. rush — hurry
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chair — a leader
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. chest — of your body
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. spell — magic
  19. chest — a box
  20. spell — a short time
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. spell — letters

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