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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: saw · pop · cell · drill · present · branch · band · row

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. drill — army training
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. present — a gift
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. row — a line
  7. saw — the tool
  8. drill — the tool
  9. present — there
  10. saw — the tool
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. pop — to visit
  13. drill — a practice
  14. branch — a division
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cell — in biology
  17. pop — music
  18. row — to paddle
  19. band — a music group
  20. present — the time now
  21. pop — soda
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. branch — of a bank

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