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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: fan · club · spring · wake · root · cell · row · branch

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. spring — the season
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. club — for golf
  8. branch — a division
  9. root — of a plant
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. root — of a word
  12. row — to paddle
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. wake — a trail
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. root — the cause
  18. row — a line
  19. spring — a coil
  20. club — for dancing
  21. cell — in biology
  22. club — a group
  23. cell — a phone
  24. spring — of water

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