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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: row · chest · dip · wind · leaves · mark · branch · bat

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. chest — a box
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. chest — of your body
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. bat — the animal
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. branch — a division
  12. wind — moving air
  13. row — to paddle
  14. mark — a grade
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. chest — of your body
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. row — a line
  22. dip — to sink
  23. mark — a trace
  24. leaves — lets stay

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