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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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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: land · chip · cold · row · cell · branch · rest · safe

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. chip — to eat
  3. land — ground
  4. land — a country
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. chip — for betting
  8. safe — a strongbox
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cell — in biology
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. rest — a break
  16. land — to come down
  17. row — a line
  18. rest — what's left
  19. cold — an illness
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. rest — what's left
  22. row — to paddle
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cell — in a prison

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