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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: perch · kid · cell · fan · march · patient · charge · branch

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  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. kid — to tease
  2. cell — a phone
  3. march — music
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. march — the month
  7. charge — electricity
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. march — the month
  10. charge — a price
  11. charge — in control
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. branch — a division
  14. cell — in biology
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. perch — the fish
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. kid — child
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. fan — to cool the air
  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