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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: wake · branch · row · plane · pit · capital · saw · cell

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. capital — a city
  3. cell — in biology
  4. saw — the tool
  5. plane — a tool
  6. row — a line
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. capital — money
  11. wake — a trail
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. saw — the tool
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. cell — a phone
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. branch — a division
  19. pit — in a race
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. row — to paddle

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