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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wound · racket · wake · saw · scale · row · cold · branch

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. saw — the tool
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. scale — in music
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. cold — an illness
  11. branch — a division
  12. wound — an injury
  13. scale — size or range
  14. wound — an injury
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. cold — not warm
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. wake — a trail
  22. row — a line
  23. row — to paddle
  24. saw — the tool

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