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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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Word bank
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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: tear · bat · court · cell · bear · scale · branch · mate

  1. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — to put up with
  2. tear — to rip
  3. court — for sport
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cell — in biology
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. bear — the animal
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. scale — size or range
  11. branch — a division
  12. bear — the animal
  13. tear — from crying
  14. scale — in music
  15. mate — a friend
  16. court — of a king
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. mate — to breed
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. tear — from crying
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. mate — a partner
  24. court — of law

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