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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 120 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: fan · pound · row · branch · band · bat · kick · field

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. field — a subject
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. branch — a division
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. band — a music group
  10. field — for sport
  11. row — to paddle
  12. bat — the animal
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. field — farmland
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. band — a ring
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. row — a line
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. pound — a weight

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