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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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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: chest · branch · sharp · cold · cell · stand · bank · row

  1. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. row — a line
  3. cell — a phone
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. bank — for money
  6. bank — for money
  7. cold — not warm
  8. branch — a division
  9. sharp — clever
  10. chest — of your body
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chest — a box
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. stand — to bear
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. row — to paddle
  20. cell — in biology
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. cold — an illness

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