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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: branch · wake · shower · leaves · field · row · net · cell

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. row — a line
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. field — a subject
  6. net — in sport
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. net — after costs
  9. net — for catching
  10. cell — a phone
  11. field — farmland
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. wake — a trail
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. row — to paddle
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. shower — rain
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — to wash
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. field — for sport

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