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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: branch · field · rash · hand · staff · land · race · row

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  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. staff — employees
  2. land — to come down
  3. field — a subject
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. staff — employees
  6. land — a country
  7. rash — a series
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. race — a contest
  10. race — the arms race
  11. race — humankind
  12. staff — a stick
  13. row — to paddle
  14. field — for sport
  15. rash — hasty
  16. field — farmland
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — help
  19. row — a line
  20. land — ground
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. branch — a division
  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