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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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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: branch · wave · snap · chest · fork · row · cell · mate

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. mate — to breed
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. chest — of your body
  5. mate — a partner
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. row — to paddle
  8. chest — a box
  9. branch — a division
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. chest — of your body
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. fork — in a road
  16. cell — a phone
  17. snap — to click
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. mate — a friend
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. row — a line
  24. cell — in biology

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