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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: chair · mate · bat · cabinet · row · wound · content · branch

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. wound — an injury
  6. chair — a leader
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. mate — to breed
  9. row — to paddle
  10. mate — a friend
  11. branch — a division
  12. bat — the animal
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. content — happy
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. mate — a partner
  20. content — the amount
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. wound — an injury
  24. row — a line

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