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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: court · land · file · current · branch · chest · cell · tear

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. tear — from crying
  3. file — a tool
  4. court — of law
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. court — for sport
  7. land — to come down
  8. current — happening now
  9. current — electric
  10. land — ground
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cell — a phone
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. file — a document
  15. tear — from crying
  16. chest — of your body
  17. land — a country
  18. chest — a box
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. cell — in biology
  21. branch — a division
  22. court — of a king
  23. current — of water
  24. tear — to rip

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