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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: rest · bat · deal · bark · clip · racket · branch · cell

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. branch — a division
  4. deal — to handle
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. rest — what's left
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cell — a phone
  10. bat — the animal
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. clip — for paper
  13. rest — a break
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. clip — to cut
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. bark — to shout
  20. clip — a video
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. rest — what's left
  24. branch — of a tree

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