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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: bound · branch · squash · present · shower · pit · cell · bat

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. present — a gift
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. bound — obliged
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. bound — tied together
  9. squash — the sport
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. shower — to wash
  13. cell — a phone
  14. pit — in a race
  15. present — there
  16. pit — a hole
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bound — certain
  19. bat — the animal
  20. squash — to crush
  21. cell — in biology
  22. present — the time now
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. branch — a division

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