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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 116 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: hand · court · bore · row · dip · branch · mine · mug

  1. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  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. branch — of a bank
  2. mug — a face
  3. hand — help
  4. bore — to tire
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. dip — to sink
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of a king
  11. mug — a cup
  12. row — a line
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. mine — for digging
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. branch — a division
  18. row — to paddle
  19. bore — to drill
  20. mug — to rob
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. court — of law
  23. hand — in cards
  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