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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: sharp · branch · row · date · chair · wind · spell · pop

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  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. date — the fruit
  2. spell — letters
  3. pop — music
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. chair — a leader
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pop — soda
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. spell — magic
  13. pop — to visit
  14. wind — moving air
  15. branch — a division
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. row — to paddle
  18. sharp — clever
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. spell — a short time
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. row — a line
  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