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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: cell · shower · sharp · fan · last · bowl · row · branch

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. last — final
  3. branch — a division
  4. last — finally
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. sharp — clever
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. row — to paddle
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. shower — to wash
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. shower — rain
  20. last — to go on
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. cell — in biology
  24. row — a quarrel

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