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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: deal · row · spring · bore · chair · fall · branch · last

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. chair — a leader
  8. spring — of water
  9. fall — to drop
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. branch — a division
  12. bore — to tire
  13. row — a line
  14. bore — to drill
  15. deal — to handle
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — the season
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. fall — to drop
  20. last — to go on
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. fall — the season
  23. row — to paddle
  24. chair — to sit on

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